According to Aerotime Hub, German advanced air mobility company Volocopter announced at the recent Paris Air Show that it had successfully completed its first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft flight tests in Saudi Arabia and that it planned to be operational at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Saudi tests follow a €175 million (R3,58bn) investment in the eVTOL development announced in November last year by NEOM, the investment programme building a futuristic city in the northwestern region of the kingdom. The electric aircraft has been tested in desert conditions, as well as for integration with the local unmanned aircraft traffic management system in the city.
Volocopter, Groupe ADP that manages Paris’s main airports, the French Civil Aviation Authority and the Region of Paris have jointly announced that there would be eVTOL operations in Paris during the 2024 Olympics, where Volocopter plans to operate a mix of tourist flights and urban air mobility missions.
Three routes have been identified for regular services: between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Le Bourget airports; between the Austerlitz barge in downtown Paris and the Paris Heliport; and between the heliport and the Saint-Cyr-l’École near Versailles.
Tourist flights will also operate from the Paris heliport and Paris-Le Bourget Airport.
Each vertiport will feature passenger terminals, with one to three take-off and landing spots, reports Business Traveller. The general public will be able to book flights for the summer of 2024 after booking opportunities are unveiled on Volocopter’s channels next year. The plan is to gradually grow eVTOL operations to cover the whole of the Paris region within the next decade.
