Published: October 23, 2024
After a significant capital injection, and with commercialisation expected next year, the company’s green ‘flying taxis’ could soon be launching everywhere from Paris to Saudwia.
In August, the German flying taxi manufacturer Volocopter announced it had successfully completed a test flight within the premises of the Palace of Versailles. The flight, which followed several days of operational validation, was an example of a new technology known as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL). According to Volocopter, it sets the stage for an exciting new era in which electric flights are the norm throughout Paris and beyond.
“We always say, this technology is an enhancement for the city to relieve really congested routes,” Christian Bauer, Volocopter’s chief commercial and financial officer, tells EMEA Finance. “It will not be the mobility solution for the whole city, because a train is more efficient in transporting people. But for those people who need to get downtown in 15 minutes, or who want to see the Eiffel Tower from above, that’s exactly the offering we want to provide.”
Although Volocopter’s aircraft are still pending certification for commercial use, which was a disappointing delay for a company that had hoped to launch during the Olympic Games, Bauer remarks the company is in the ‘final sprint’ until the beginning of next year. Once that certification materialises, the company can commercially launch its product and start to bring its vision to life.
The Parisian test was just one in a long list of flights Volocopter has initiated in recent years. There have been flights in Osaka, New York City and Singapore. Notably, in June 2023 the company completed some test flights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, following 18 months of collaboration with the futuristic city of NEOM. NEOM is planning to run a ‘smart and sustainable multimodal mobility system’, powered entirely by renewable energy, in which air taxis play an essential role.
“There are lots of locations in NEOM that need mobility solutions, and you can connect some of them with train systems, but others will be served by electric air taxis,” says Bauer. “This will include touristic flights, for instance sightseeing flights or connection flights from the airport to the main sites.”
The company expects to start small over the next few years, bringing in some demonstration test sites. Following certification, the air taxi system will be implemented into the overall network, in which different mobility streams work together.