Aviation company Airbus says it is close to completion of the development of a practical flying car and hopes to test a prototype later this year with to production by 2021.

Speaking at a technology conference in Germany, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said, “One hundred years ago, urban transport went underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to go above ground. We are in an experimentation phase, we take this development very seriously.”

Airbus has established an Urban Air Mobility division to develop the programme. The design will see vehicles able to take off and land vertically. Its seems the aim is to become the Uber of the air with vehicles able to carry multiple passengers who can book their journey via an app.

Uber itself is also looking at the air transport with its Uber Elevate programme and Google has also invested in two flying-car start-up projects.