In the border area between Lower Austria and Styria, aircraft supplier FACC can now take off with air taxis as a test. The test zone in Steinalpl is slightly larger than the city of Linz.
It all started with the collaboration with the Chinese air taxi pioneer EHang. FACC will now produce fuselage and wing parts for the American start-up Archer, which will then be used in an e-aircraft to be deployed at a maximum distance of about 100 kilometers to get to the train. The Innviertler aircraft supplier is opening up new markets with its “Urban Air Mobility” projects.
But where can developments be tested? For the FACC area in St. Martin im Innkreis, the company under the leadership of Robert Machtlinger has a flight test permit. A decisive step has now been taken: on the initiative of the innovation platform AIRlabs Austria, in which FACC is also involved, a test site for socially relevant drone applications has now been set up for the first time in Austria – in Steinalpl.
The production aircraft are scheduled to take off in 2024
The future is now at home in the mountainous border region between Lower Austria and Styria. The test zone is about 100 square kilometers in size, which is slightly more than the area of the city of Linz. FACC speaks of “worldly unique conditions” that would prevail here. The company itself has not yet conducted any tests there. Archer’s first production aircraft should hit the market in 2024.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
