VOLOCOPTER Air Electro Taxi conducted its first flight over Le Bourget, France
The tests carried out will be the first step in the development of the aerial mobility sector, with the aim of offering a commercial offer in 2030, after a demonstration in 2024 on the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A new step in the urban air mobility project in Ile-de-France is the flying cabs. This Monday, on the occasion of the Paris Air Forum, the German Volocopter demonstrated an electric flying cab with vertical takeoff (eVTOL) called VoloCity over Paris-Le Bourget airport.
Last fall, the Ile-de-France region, urban transport operator RATP and Paris airport manager Groupe ADP announced expressions of interest in launching a French urban air mobility sector formulated around flying cabs.
A total of 150 candidates from 25 countries responded to develop the vehicle, infrastructure, operations, airspace integration and acceptability for residents of this new mobility offering. The Volocopter was chosen first for testing.
Its VoloCity, an all-electric vehicle, has 18 engines and nine batteries. It can carry two people, including the pilot. It flies at 110 km/h, at an altitude of 400 to 500 meters and with a range of 35 km.
The tests, carried out in June this month, will be the first step in the development of the aerial mobility sector, with the aim of offering a “commercial offer” in 2030, but with a “milestone in 2024” – demonstrations. on the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to Marie-Claude Dupuis, director of strategy, innovation and development at RATP Group.
“If there is such great interest in the vertical takeoff, editor’s note), not only because it makes you dream, but also because there are qualities inherent in the project that explain this mobilization, but also the international competition to be able to be one of the regions of the world in which this sector will be structured,” explains Edward Arkwright, executive director of Groupe ADP.
According to a November 2019 study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman, the future market for flying cabs could be more than $35 billion in 2035 and will touch 60 to 90 cities worldwide, and especially the congested metropolitan areas of Asia and other countries.
