Prototype Air Mobility craft may be launched by October, says minister

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — The Air Mobility Vehicle prototype that caused controversy after a minister called it a “flying car” could be ready as early as October, Parliament heard today.

During the Minister's Question Time today, Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Redzuan Md Yusof — who called it a “flying car” — said the government was only facilitating the project that is private sector-driven.

"The development of the Air Mobility prototype is being developed by companies that have the capacity and interest to explore this industry. All intellectual properties including the design and software of the Air Mobility is the responsibility of the company developing this project.

"This includes the costs. The ministry is only playing the role of enabler to develop the Air Mobility industry ecosystem especially on policies, regulations and domestic support to fulfill the needs to develop the industry.

“The ministry expects the first prototype to be launched as early as October 2019," said Redzuan.

Earlier, Datuk Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PAS-Pasir Puteh) asked for updates on the prototype model.

He also questioned the minister on the current status of 11 aerospace investment projects worth RM816.3 million that were approved by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

Redzuan said that four of these are owned by foreign companies with a total investment worth of RM338 million or 41 per cent of the total investment value.

Local companies make up seven of the projects with a domestic investment worth RM478 million or 59 per cent of the total investment value.

Out of the 11 approved projects, 10 projects are taking part in aerospace manufacturing activities where they build aircraft parts such as engine components, machined metal parts and also aero-structure parts while providing surface treatment services for tier-one and tier-two companies.

One project was approved to conduct maintenance and repair activities for aircraft engine components for the export market.

The 11 projects are expected to generate 2,442 jobs.