A flying robot electric taxi that can leave Caboolture and reach Brisbane CBD in 20 minutes is about to take off with Moreton Bay Council.
At a 2025 Leaders Forum last Friday, council unveiled plans to get an flying taxi service with US-based Wisk Aero off the ground before the 2032 Olympic Games.
“The idea presented to us is that it will be like an Uber,” Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery says.
NEWS COP VIDEO: Watch Wisk Aero’s Dan Parsons explain the tech
“To me, it’s like a train in the sky; you go from one point to another point, more like a train service … Caboolture or Brendale to Brisbane CBD may be about 15 minutes. You could spend 15 minutes just trying to get on the Bruce Highway to go to the city,” he says.
“The opportunity is there; we (are) looking at how we’re doing our planning with the infrastructure; there are great opportunities with Caboolture airport and the Redcliffe airport.”
The 12-engined electric aircraft will have no pilot, carry four passengers, be able to vertically take off and land (VTOL) like a helicopter and fly between designated landing sites (or vertiports as Wisk calls them).
Dan Parsons, who is Wisk’s Manager of Market Development, told News Cop that the aircraft will be able to fly at 1500-4000 feet (457-1220 metres) at a speed of 110-120 knots (203-222 km/h).
“This is a sixth generation eVTOL aircraft,” he says.
“A large battery inside (it) powers 12 motors. For the cruise, six motors in front will tilt into a forward position and we fly along like an aircraft.”
He estimates a flight time of 15-20 minutes from Moreton Bay to the Brisbane CBD.
FLYING TAXIS NEED PUBLIC TRUST
Parsons says winning public trust is a requirement if the service is to take off.
“It will be a requirement that we achieve public trust, both for the people that want to travel in the aircraft and those on the ground over which we may or may not fly,” he points out.
“Safety is our number one priority when it comes to developing and flying the aircraft then through the certification process.”
He says they were first certified in the US and are now working on operational certification in each country they operate which, for Australia, involves the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
“By going through that process, we hope to build trust then, over time with our record of safe flight, we’ll continue to grow that trust that way,” he says.
Parsons says the company still have “more work to do” in regards to CASA certification.
“It will be classified as a passenger carrying aircraft, commercially so those are the standards we’re pursuing; the same for other commercial aircraft,” he says.
All going well, he says passengers will be able to book a seat on a flight from one of their vertiports on a scheduled service but that also remains a work in progress.
OTHER FORUM NEWS
Ferries, air taxis in council’s vision of the future
State government to give $15 million for new Moreton Bay Wildlife Hospital.
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