Flying taxis will be tested over Paris during the 2024 Olympics, French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete has announced. The new vehicles will not be available to the general public.
Volocopter – air taxi. PHOTO Facebook
“We will experience this world premiere during the Olympic Games. It is a technological advance that could be useful,” said Vergriete, according to Le Parisien newspaper, quoted by Newsweek.
Volocopter's VoloCity air taxi has gone through more than 2,000 tests, but this will be the first time it will be used in public.
According to the company, “the VoloCity air taxi is ready to transport passengers between key transportation hubs such as train stations and airports. This will allow non-stop and faster transport“.
The taxi has only two seats and is powered by an electric motor, and could be used in the future mainly as an ambulance and for other emergency services.
The main purpose of in-game testing is to assess operational costs and noise levels.
Volocopter – air taxi. PHOTO Facebook
To carry passengers commercially, VoloCity must obtain certification from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Volocopter aims to receive certification by the fall of this year.
Earlier this year, the company was close to bankruptcy after investing about $650 million in development.
Now, after making the first models, the company faces opposition in France. There are voices that say that the taxi is not so clean, and the French environmental authority measured the noise level of an air taxi in flight at 65 decibels and concluded that it was not as quiet as the company representatives promised.
An environmental organization, French Nature Environment, launched a petition to ban the vehicles and has more than 15,500 signatures.
According to Politico, the concept of air taxis in Paris during the Olympics came from French President Emmanuel Macron, with the aim of showcasing the innovation in France.
Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter, believes that air taxis will give serious competition to traditional ground transportation by the end of the decade.
