Volocopter, the company who had the ambition of deploying a flying taxi fleet for the Paris 2024 Olympics, has just received authorisation to start serial production in Germany.
The company has received the German Federal Aviation Office’s (LBA) Production Organisation Approval (POA) extension that allows the production of the VoloCity aircraft, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle.
This is a major milestone for us. Aircraft design and production are strongly regulated for a good reason: to produce safe mobility products.
Andreas Fehring, Volocopter COO
“I am pleased that Volocopter’s production facility has the trust of and stamp of approval from LBA to manufacture commercial aircraft that can be delivered to customers once the VoloCity receives type certification. Our team has proven that we can produce safe and high-quality test aircraft, and we now look forward to shortening our production lead time for scaling”, said Volocopter COO Andreas Fehring.
Under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) SC-VTOL (Special Condition VTOL) Enhanced certification category, the VoloCity will become the first commercial eVTOL with the highest global safety standards in aviation. Achieving this safety standard allows VoloCity to fly above congested urban areas, an important milestone for Volocopter, almost reaching their 2021 goal of inaugurating a flying taxi service in 2024.
Along with serial production, the company has received approval from LBA to train pilots through its subsidiary Volocopter Air Services, making Volocopter the first eVTOL aircraft developer to receive Approved Training Organisation (ATO) certification. After a one-year verification process of standards required to produce training materials for the aircraft/simulators that the training will be delivered on, LBA gave the ATO certification “zero findings in the final audit”.
Although a fleet of VoloCity flying over Paris this summer now seems unlikely, Volocopter has already set its eyes for other targets. The company received a special flight authorization and performed test flights in Saudi Arabia last year, partnering with the city of NEOM in its ambition to revolutionise mobility.
In December, Volocopter conducted a multi-day flight test campaign in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Amagasaki, in preparation for the 2025 Osaka Kansai World Expo, for which it plans to offer a commercial air taxi service.
