The German company Volocopter, one of the leading developers of flying taxis in Europe, was unable to implement its previously announced plan to organize the world’s first flying taxi service at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Everything was ready – from a batch of two-seat VoloCity electric aircraft to dispatchers and many landing sites in Paris and the surrounding area. A small thing was missing – completing the certification of electric motors for electric aircraft.
Image source: Volocopter
Volocopter announced its promise to begin flights with passengers in Paris in July 2024 a little over a year ago. The service began to be prepared at the same time, launching in parallel the process of certification of the air vehicle of new urban mobility – an all-electric device with vertical take-off and landing.
Volocopter has begun the certification process in collaboration with the regional government of Paris, the French capital’s transport operator RATP and airport operator ADP to transport people from a floating platform on the Seine – close to the Austerlitz railway hub – to other “heliports” scattered around the city and built by ADP. There remains hope that the bureaucracy will be defeated and the flying taxi service will begin operating later this year – in time for the opening of Notre Dame Cathedral after the restoration.
Venues for receiving and dispatching VoloCity flying taxis were built in the historical district of Paris and on the territory of nearby airports. With virtually everything ready to go, Volocopter conducted flight and operational tests of the air taxi with pilots but no passengers. The first commercial model of the VoloCity air machine is a two-seat aircraft with 18 engines (propellers) on a 9.3-m frame on top of the machine. The maximum flight speed will reach 110 km/h, and the battery charge will be enough to cover 35 km not at maximum speed.
