Volocopter will announce its planned Paris Summer Olympics air taxi routes at this year’s Paris Air Show.
Volocopter plans to begin piloted test flights of its first production-standard VoloCity electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi in July as it aims for type certification in the second quarter of 2024, in time to launch the first commercial services at the Paris Summer Olympics in July 2024.
The German startup plans to publish the planned routes and number of aircraft at the Paris Air Show in June of this year.
Remotely piloted test flights of the first VoloCity prototype, P0, have been underway since 2022 and the aircraft has flown distances up to 23 mi. at speeds up to 61 mph (120 kph), Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke said at a March 31 event organized by the Germany Embassy in Washington. The next to fly, P1, is the first fully conforming serial-production aircraft and is planned to fly in Paris during the Olympics.
Volocopter is in the middle of type certification and aiming to be the first to receive approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) under its Special Condition for VTOL. Certification by the second quarter of 2024 “is full of challenges with many hurdles, but both sides are confident we can still make it,” Hoke said. If the two-seat VoloCity is not type certified by July 2024, Volocopter will have to obtain special permission from the authorities to fly in Paris.
“We do not want a special permit to fly. We want to be the first to fly commercially. And we are getting a lot of support,” he said. “If it goes wrong, we will not miss 2024. We will be certified next year.” Volocopter also plans to launch service in Rome and Singapore by the end of 2024. Commercial service is planned to begin in Osaka, Japan, and Neom, Saudi Arabia, in 2025. Another 35 cities are being considered for services from 2025 onward.
Volocopter formed a new company and in January applied for its air operator certificate to fly commercial services with the VoloCity. The company has ordered a fixed-wing aircraft for delivery in June this year with which to begin operations and demonstrate to the regulators that it can operate and maintain its aircraft. “This will help with entry into service in Paris a short time after type certification,” Hoke said.
Discussions are underway on how many aircraft will be brought into service over the coming year and the investment required. However many air taxis Volocopter decides to operate at the Paris Olympics, “I am convinced demand will be higher than supply,” Hoke said.
The startup is working to raise $300-500 million in its ongoing Series E round to support the ramp-up of production and launch of commercial services. “I’m aiming for the high end,” Hoke told Aviation Week at the German Embassy event, noting the company has raised $250 million so far in the round.
Funded to date by private investors, Volocopter plans to stay private through entry into service and the ramp up of operations. “We are not exposed to the need to grow like the public companies,” he said. “We plan to start slow and show we are safe, quiet and sustainable.”
The VoloCity has a range of 35 km, but routes will be limited to 20 km in Paris to account for winds, weather and end-of-life batteries. The multicopter eVTOL carries a pilot and just a single passenger. “Is it a cool business case? No,” Hoke said. “We will subsidize the routes with our partners at the beginning.”
Volocopter’s hopes for economic returns will come with introduction of the piloted four-passenger VoloRegion eVTOL. In addition to carrying more paying passengers, the winged lift-plus-cruise VoloRegion is designed to fly up to 100 km at 180 kph, opening up suburban and regional routes. “Fixed-wing is not optimized for cities, so we will use the multicopter to connect the last mile,” he said. “We will use–and need–both aircraft.”
A VoloRegion demonstrator was flown in 2022 and has a full-scale cabin but 90%-scale wing. The remotely piloted aircraft has demonstrated transition between vertical and horizontal wing-borne flight, Hoke said. Development and certification of the full-scale aircraft is being paced by battery technology, he said, but the aircraft is expected to enter service in 2027-28.
