While much of the popular discussion around automated transport focuses on self-driving cars, engineers are also looking to the skies. Both the risks and the opportunities inherent in air transport of the future are drawing in some of the best minds in artificial intelligence, engineering and urban planning.

Elaine Whyte, UK drones lead at consultancy PwC, is an advocate for using the air as a new channel for urban transport. Speaking at a roundtable last month on drones organised by Nesta, an innovation charity, she said the space over the river Thames could be used to carry people or goods, potentially landing at pontoons moored along the waterway.

In comparison to “all the trains jam-packed, the roads packed, the pavements packed”, Ms Whyte said the air is as yet clear — a “benign channel”. The same benign image is projected in many sleek promotional videos touting the aircraft of the future, usually featuring a single flying taxi traversing an otherwise pristine blue sky.