The head of a project that is developing commercial drones predicts the day will come when passenger aircraft will fly without pilots.

Google is gearing up to test its solar-powered drone project – dubbed “Project Titan” – sometime this year as part of its efforts to bring service to some of the four billion people without Internet access.

Google's secretive research laboratory is trying to build a fleet of drones designed to bypass earthbound traffic so packages can be delivered to people more quickly.