Watch: X-Dubai takes first step to 100% autonomous human flight in China

Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, has given a glimpse as to how the future of travel will look like.

On his social media account, Sheikh Hamdan posted an online video of the mission, titled ‘Human Flight’, which was carried out recently by X-Dubai and the Jetman duo Vince Reffet and Fred Fugen.

The 100% autonomous human flight was carried out in China over the Tianmen mountain to promote Expo 2020 to the world, which shows breath-taking footage of the valleys in China as an enthusiastic crowd of onlookers snapped photos of the daredevil stunts.

With the support of Expo 2020, who also posted another online video of the men whizzing across China’s sky, X-Dubai and the Jetman thrill-seekers aim to achieve 100 per cent autonomous human aviation by 2020.

The Jetman duo were supported by Ahmad Hassan Al Shehhi, an award-winning athlete, who is expected to become the first Emirati to achieve human flight by 2020.

Al Shehhi, 31, has a record of more than 5,300 freestyle skydive jumps including paragliding and speed flying.

Grey area

There is a height range where humans cannot fly autonomously. It is called the grey area. By flying at altitudes never attempted before, Jetman is narrowing the grey area. And in 2020, according to organisers of the Expo committee, it will disappear.