Melbourne first city outside U.S. to serve as testbed for Uber Air flying transport service

Uber has announced that the city of Melbourne in Australia will be the first city outside the U.S. to serve as a testbed for its Uber Air flying transport service. the service will transport passengers across a network of rooftop landing pads called Skyports, all for the price of an UberX, according to The Guardian.

The first test flights are scheduled to begin next year, with commercial operations set to take off by 2023. The service will use electric-powered –possibly autonomous — vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and can be requested using the Uber app just like you would with a normal Uber.

But unlike a normal Uber, Uber Air is expected to cut travel times significantly.

“The 19km journey from the CBD to Melbourne airport can take anywhere from 25 minutes to around an hour by car in peak hour, but with Uber Air, this will take around 10 minutes,” Uber spokesman Eric Allison told the Guardian.

Along with Melbourne, Dallas and Los Angeles in the U.S. will also be UBer testbeds to trial the service.