A³ by Airbus · air taxi
Vahana
A self-piloted electric tilt-wing demonstrator built by Airbus's Silicon Valley outpost. All flights were uncrewed and flown by its onboard flight computer; 815 kg is maximum takeoff weight.
- Price
- —not sold; research demonstrator
- Autonomy
- Autonomous modeHow it runs
- Driverless
- TestingSince 2018-01-31
- Fleet
- —See details below
- Speed
- 170.0 km/hFaster than 50%
- Range
- 50 kmPer charge or tank
Why it matters
An early full-size, single-seat electric tilt-wing aircraft designed from the start to fly itself with no pilot.
Real-world use
Completed over 138 full-scale test flights, with the final flight at Pendleton, Oregon on 14 November 2019, bringing the Vahana programme to a close (Airbus, 2019; Airbus Vahana project page).
Timeline
- First shown
- 2018-01-31
- Released
- Not yet
Maker
A³ by AirbusCompanyHow it drives
Fleet and city figures move fast; each carries its date and who reported it.
- Driverless status
- Driverless tests only
- Where it runs
- Pendleton UAS Range, Oregon
- Driverless since
- 2018-01-31
- Fleet
- two demonstrators (Alpha One and Alpha Two), retired
- Rides, miles or loads
- Over 138 full-scale test flights, over 13 hours, almost 500 nautical miles (Airbus Vahana project page)
How it stacks up
Against other air taxis that publish the figure. Pick a measure.
Too few air taxis publish a weight to rank it. Bars show the 2 closest in date.
Vahana is faster than 50% of the 4 other air taxis that publish a speed. Bars show the 4 closest in date.
Not published by the maker: height, payload, joints, battery, price.
Public attention
A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current vehicles.
- No Wikipedia article of its own yet
- No recent press stories listed yet
Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured
What’s inside
No component details published yet.
- Movement
- Other movement
- How it runs
- Fully autonomous. Does its job with nobody at the controls.
From the maker
Vahana is the only vehicle from A³ by Airbus in the atlas.
Made, sold and where
No production or sales figures published yet.
- Price
- Not publishednot sold; research demonstrator
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
Sources
Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.
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