News

Airbus Has Revealed Its CityAirbus NextGen Flying Taxi

During flight, the aircraft makes less than 65 decibels of noise, and the figure increases to just 70 decibels during landing.

Published

5 years ago

October 1, 2021

David Morelo

Airbus

Nobody likes to sit in traffic, especially not people who can afford to hire their own private jet, and that’s exactly who Airbus is targeting with its next-generation CityAirbus, an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) offering for the emerging urban air mobility (UAM) market.

The European multinational aerospace corporation has recently unveiled the new aircraft at its first summit on “Pioneering Sustainable Aerospace”. The CityAirbus NextGen incorporates lessons learned from the design and test operation of the original CityAirbus and the single-seat, tilt-wing Vahana.

airbus cityairbus nextgen side view

It has six electrically powered lifting propellers and two additional electrical propellers on its V-shaped tail for cruise flight, the phase of flight between climb and descent. Airbus claims that it can cover a distance of 80 kilometers (50 miles) at a cruise speed of 120 km/h (75 mph) while carrying up to four passengers. During flight, the aircraft makes less than 65 dB(A) of noise, and the figure increases to just 70 dB(A) during landing.

“The CityAirbus NextGen meets the highest certification standards (EASA SC-VTOL Enhanced Category),” states Airbus in the official press release. “Designed with simplicity in mind, CityAirbus NextGen will offer best-in-class economic performance in operations and support”.

Also Read: Mercedes Concept EQG Electric G-Class Revealed In Munich

Airbus is aware that far more obstacles besides those that can be solved with innovative technology will need to be overcome for the new urban air mobility market to flourish. That’s why the CityAirbus NextGen will initially be piloted by a real human pilot. Once the technology and operational framework for self-flying aircraft are established, Airbus would like the aircraft to operate autonomously.

How long that will take to happen is something even industry experts can’t reliably predict, especially not on a global scale. What’s certain is that flying across major cities won’t be something anyone besides one-percenters will be able to afford for a long time — and maybe never.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.