Kittyhawk is winding down after 12 years

Google co-founder’s flying car startup, Kittyhawk is winding down the company announced yesterday. Founded by Larry Page in 2010 as Zee.Aero the company confirmed the shutdown in a LinkedIn post.

“We have made the decision to wind down Kittyhawk. We’re still working on the details of what’s next,” it read.

Under CEO, Sebastian Thrun — who previously worked on self-driving cars at Google — the firm showed a demonstration video of a flying car in 2017. At the time, Thrun said he saw a time when people would be able to hail flying cars through an app like Uber.

Kittyhawk unveiled a flying car model called the Flyer in 2018 that could hold one person and fly up to 20 miles. It then announced a partnership with Boeing the following year.

But, by 2020, Kittyhawk had plans to shut down its Flyer programme and shift focus to its electric aircraft, Heaviside.

Yesterday’s announcement of a shutdown will not affect the partnership with Boeing, a Kittyhawk spokesperson told CNBC. “Kittyhawk’s decision to cease operations does not change Boeing’s commitment to Wisk. We are proud to be a founding member of Wisk Aero and are excited to see the work they are doing to drive innovation and sustainability through the future of electric air travel. We do not expect Kitty Hawk’s announcement to affect Wisk’s operations or other activities in any way.”