Having built his family's fortunes with steel and cement, John Wagner is turning his attention to something more high-tech.

The Queensland multimillionaire, who helped build Australia's first privately funded airport at Wellcamp, about 150 kilometres west of Brisbane, has thrown his support behind flying taxis.

Mr Wagner, who heads Wagner Corporation along with his brothers Denis, Joe, and Neill, signed a deal in August to investigate the construction of ports for aerial vehicles.

It is the latest move in the race to have the technology up and running before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

"It's the same model as Uber, where you turn up at a vertiport, you get on an uncrewed electric helicopter and pay 50 bucks and go where you want to go," Mr Wagner told the ABC.

The deal with British company Skyports will assess the potential for such sites in south-east Queensland at "strategic locations around Brisbane and the wider Queensland area".

Mr Wagner said the opportunities in the sector were clear and he wanted to work with the Queensland and federal governments to realise them.

"The whole shifting people around efficiently and carbon-free — that's what we need to do," he said.

What are air taxis?

Flying taxis are otherwise known as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The concept emerged from NASA in 2009.

eVTOLs fly much like a helicopter, able to hover and fly, but are powered by batteries and are quieter than traditional helicopters.

More than $US8.5 billion ($12.5 billion) has been invested in the technology through more than 300 start-ups globally.

The prospect of an air taxi service in Australia had been touted since as early as 2019 when Uber proposed a pilot program in Melbourne through its subsidiary Uber Elevate.

But those plans were scuppered when the division was sold off to US start-up Joby Aviation in 2020.

Community leaders have since set their sights on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

California-based aerospace company Wisk is working with the Council of Mayors (SEQ) to get its autonomous electric four-seater aircraft airborne ahead of the Olympics.

"People want to be able to get into cities to experience tourism destinations or exciting opportunities, but the unpredictability of traffic and congestion is going to stop people from making those trips," said Wisk's vice-president of Asia Pacific and air operations, Catherine MacGowan.

The company announced in December last year it had conducted several test flights in New Zealand demonstrating how autonomous vehicles could be safely flown in space shared by piloted aircraft.

Ms MacGowan said there was a huge amount of interest and activity in the sector with several companies including Wisk vying for certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration and Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

CASA said while no eVTOL aircraft had received regulatory approval in Australia, several companies had "signalled their intention to sell into this market".

"eVTOLs will have to meet Australian safety and airworthiness standards and will likely operate under rules similar to those applying to helicopters in the first instance," a CASA spokesperson said. 

"This would require the pilot to be licensed."

Will it fly?

A report commissioned by Airservices Australia published earlier this year predicted the market for drone passenger transport would begin to emerge by 2030, with the number of air taxi trips forecast to hit 750,000 annually by 2043.

Flying taxis had been due to fly over Paris as part of the 2024 Olympics but were delayed due to issues with official certification.

Operators have planned to have the service operational for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral on December 8.

Company Eve, backed by aviation company Embraer, is also planning to trial the operation of up 40 eVTOLs in Melbourne in 2026.

The University of Queensland's Kai Lim, from the Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation, said air taxis would initially be suited to executives or the rich who could afford the convenience and price of playing for an air taxi.

Wisk has set a price target of $2.74 per passenger per kilometre.

"That's why this has been targeted for the Olympics because we generally know that traffic between Brisbane and the Gold Coast is unpredictable and often it can be quite bad."

But Dr Lim said like the rollout of EVs in Australia, there may be challenges in getting the public to accept the technology.

He said companies might have a harder time convincing the general public to take a ride in an air taxi, especially if there was no human pilot involved.

Wisk's Catherine MacGowan said safety was one of its top priorities.

She said the company's air taxi designs had been focused on making people feel comfortable.

"We ask people about these aircraft, and then we bring them into the aircraft and let them interact with the aircraft, and then we ask them again, and we consistently see those levels of confidence as people understand more about the system," she said.

Mr Wagner said the opportunities from air taxis were in the air and on the ground.

But it required deep pockets.

"These companies need places to operate to and from … [it] would be our intention to build a vertiport and operate them and lease them to these companies that need to use them.

"It's no different to the airport or our wharf."