Germany-based Volocopter is the first eVTOL developer to conduct both crewed and remotely piloted test flights in France. The crewed flights were part of a week-long urban air mobility (UAM) test campaign that will give Volocopter and its partners, Groupe ADP and RATP Group, key insights for subsequently launching the UAM industry in time for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Volocopter's full scale testing prototype, the 2X, was used to perform successful flight tests to measure the aircraft's noise emissions at Pontoise airfield in Paris. This data will be used by the company's partners to shape the future of UAM services in and around Paris.

CCO Christian Bauer says: “We have demonstrated our pioneering power once again here in Paris. By flying our aircraft in a crewed configuration at a Paris airport, we are proving to one of our launch cities firsthand that our aircraft will offer a practical addition for potential airport-to-city routes.”

Volocopter first flew its 2X and VoloCity aircraft uncrewed in France at the Paris Air Forum in June 2021. The 2X flew a 500m route at speeds up to 30 km/h and 30 m high along the Le Bourget Airfield. The first US flight took place the following month at EAA AirVenture in Wisconsin. Together with its partners, the company is gearing up for commercial launch in the next two to three years.

UAM refers to a subcategory of advanced air mobility (AAM) and how advanced aircraft can operate in and around cities. Seen as an addition to existing transportation options, UAM supports the development of environmentally friendly mobility solutions and will offer cities worldwide a unique mix of urban multimodal transportation systems.

The UAM testing sandbox at Pontoise airfield addresses the challenges of this new form of mobility directly by assessing UAM solution use, acceptability, regulations, technologies and industrialisation. The airfield offers a real and secure aeronautical environment in a suburban area, 35 km northwest of Paris.