Successful flight of the Volocopter air taxi

After a successful flight at an airport in France, the German Volocopter is about to be given the green light to carry passengers at the Paris Olympics.

For years, we have been hearing that flying taxis could revolutionise the way cities travel in the future. One of the first to do so could be Germany’s Volocopter, which has been developing its own vehicle since 2013. At the end of 2020, there was already talk of the first service taking off in Paris within a few months. Reuters reports that the landmark test has now taken place.

The Volocopter took off from Le Bourget airport on Monday and is expected to start carrying passengers at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In addition to the pilot, the vehicle will comfortably seat one person and their luggage.

The aircraft spent three minutes in the air during the recent test flight. During this time, it climbed to a height of about 30 metres, covered a distance of about 500 metres and landed smoothly and vertically at the airport. There were no passengers on board at the time.

For the first live flights, a pilot’s licence will be required to drive the device, but later the company will develop an automatic vehicle that can drive itself.

Not only did Volocopter unveil its electric air taxi at the Paris Air Forum, but the company has vowed to have its air taxi service operational by the 2024 Olympics. Competition for the implementation of air taxis is fierce worldwide. The technology promises to help speed up commuting, reduce congestion in cities and revolutionise the transport industry.

Volocopter is one step closer to bringing its own taxi service to Martlet following a successful demonstration. The company aims to bring a full-fledged service to the French capital region for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is expected that the service is likely to be a big hit with tourists and Olympic visitors, who will want to experience everything there is to experience.

“Today’s first flight to Paris highlights Volocopter’s commitment to bring an air taxi service to the region for the 2024 Olympic Games. The alliance between the Paris Administrative Region, Groupe ADP and RATP Groupe is an excellent example of the collaborative approach we see as the most successful for bringing this category of mobility to cities around the world,” said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter.

Edward Arkwright, Deputy CEO of Groupe ADP, explained, among other things, that the Volocopter is a prime example of an urban air vehicle (UAM) and what the future of aviation, both low-carbon and innovative, could look like. Together with the other partners of the RE.Invent Air Mobility initiative, Volocopter is now ready to start its first test flights at Pontouis airport in September. And by the time of the 2024 Olympic Games, they aim to have laid the foundations for a strong UAM industrial ecosystem in France.