Flying taxis in the sky of Paris during the 2024 Olympics are no longer a pipe dream. A mix of drone and helicopter, they could complete three courses during the sporting event. The only thing missing is permission from the civil aviation authorities.
Getting to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris without traffic jams and in just a few minutes: that’s the promise of flying taxis, small, fully electric white helicopters.
First European city
The manufacturer Volocopter and its partner Aéroports de Paris (ADP) confirmed this week in a press release that the first eVTOL (for “electric vertical take-off and landing”, called “VoloCity”, should be launched during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Paris should be the first European city to experiment with this service, “and perhaps even the first city in the world”, reports the German brand. The flying taxis will be made available to the public and will be able to carry one person and one pilot. Since 2021, aircraft tests have been carried out at Pontoise-Cormeilles-en-Vexin airport, in Val-d’Oise, north of Paris.
At least 110 euros per person
The helicopters will each make a different route, one between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports, the second between a barge moored at the Quai d’Austerlitz and the Issy-les-Moulineaux heliport, which will also be the starting point. for a third stage, at the aerodrome of Saint-Cyr-l’École. The price of these somewhat special trips is not yet known, but the newspaper the Parisian he quotes a price “of at least 110 euros per person”.
These electric planes will have to adapt to both air traffic and the urban environment. VoloCities, which look like large insects, are four times quieter than helicopters, according to Volocopter.
The model complies with the safety measures of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), with the aim of obtaining the green light from the organization and the European certification that allows it to fly. And this since the spring of 2024, even if “it’s not easy”, acknowledged the general manager of the company, Dirk Hoke. He promised that the “VoloCity” will be as safe as an Airbus A320 type commercial aircraft.
Source: Latercera
I am Robert Harris and I specialize in news media. My experience has been focused on sports journalism, particularly within the Rugby sector. I have written for various news websites in the past and currently work as an author for Athletistic, covering all things related to Rugby news.
