It was expected, but now it's confirmed: VoloCity flying taxis will be taking to the skies over Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games. A commercial launch for the general public, too, a world first. Volocopter, the German group behind the VoloCity project, made the announcement at the Paris Air Show in the company of its partners, the ADP Group and the Ile-de-France Region, as well as the French Civil Aviation Authority (Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile), which has given the go-ahead for this electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, otherwise known as eVTOL.
" All the signs are green for us to be looking forward to summer 2024said Edward Arkwright, Chief Executive Officer of ADP Group. The challenges are great, but they are a source of pride for everyone involved in the project" . For his part, Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter, said he was counting on " the days to go before electric air taxis become a reality" The German manufacturer is the only eVTOL company close to obtaining certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency, expected next year.
While the general public will still have to wait to buy a ticket for the flights scheduled for the summer of 2024, subscribers to the Volocopter news feed will be the first to hear the announcement of the launch of reservationThe date will be announced in the second half of 2023. The first occupants - one passenger per aircraft, in addition to the pilot - can rest assured that VoloCity has been tested on a pilot site for over a year, the Pontoise vertiportThe ADP Group and its partners are exploring the conditions for the advent of this new generation of aircraft. In all, more than twenty flights have been carried out to date, covering almost 200 km.
What routes will be offered during the Olympic Games? In the summer of 2024, a number of aircraft will be flying three routes, all of which will be tests prior to the wider deployment of flying taxis in the coming years. First and foremost a route between Paris-CDG and Le Bourget airportsIt will also run a route between a vertiport on the Quai d'Austerlitz and the Paris heliport, testing the integration of these aircraft in a dense urban area. Finally, the VoloCity will also fly between the Paris heliport and the Saint-Cyr-l'École aerodrome, near Versailles, to validate the potential of eVTOLS for emergency medical service missions - AP-HP - as well as their use for tourism.
In terms of tourism, round trips will also be offered from the Paris heliport and Paris-Le Bourget airport. In the meantime, these five veliports will begin preparing to receive the public at the end of summer 2023, each with a passenger terminal and, depending on its configuration, one to three take-off and landing zones.
The full-scale test during the Paris Olympic Games, which will enable operators to gain a better understanding of the market and travellers to get used to this new mode of transportThis is undoubtedly just the first step towards the wider deployment of these new electrically-powered aircraft. The ADP Group expects to see these aircraft "gradually cover the entire Paris region over the next decade" .
But while flying taxis have never been so close to flying, aircraft are also preparing to fly on electricity or hydrogen. These are all solutions that could one day underpin the sector's environmental transition by making it possible to use less fuel. low-carbon flights on regional short-haul routes. In this context, the ADP Group has joined forces with six leaders in low-carbon regional aviation to accelerate the arrival of new-generation 2 to 100-seat aircraft at its Paris airports before 2030.
Pipistrel with its Velis Electro model on the 100% electric side, Beyond Aer, Universal Hydrogen and ZeroAvia all involved in hydrogen-powered aircraft, Daher and VoltAero for hybrid propulsion, combining electric power with sustainable fuels: all these players are partners of the Paris airports operator. The aim is to explore together how to create the right conditions for integrate these aircraft into the airport ecosystemThese include the provision of biofuel, the deployment of a network of electric charging stations and the supply of hydrogen, all backed up by flight tests.
" In this alliance, the only one of its kind in the world, for low-carbon regional aviation in the Paris region, the ADP Group aims to play its full role as an accelerator and integrator of new aircraft at its airports and for the sector as a whole." said Augustin de Romanet, CEO of the ADP Group. As Val Miftakhov, CEO of ZeroAvia, points out, " when the operator of one of the world's largest airports starts planning low-carbon flights using hydrogen, it is a clear signal that change is happening" ...
