Waiting for approval
Air taxi manufacturer Volocopter opens hangar
4/4/2023 8:39 p.m
The Baden startup Volocopter wants to have its innovative aircraft take off at the Olympics next year. Until then, there are still a few hurdles to overcome. But the founders have been planning for a long time. The company wants to open a hangar in the presence of a whole squad of politicians.
The air taxi manufacturer Volocopter is still waiting for approval for its first new type of aircraft that can take off and land vertically. However, the electric aircraft should already have their premiere at the Olympic Games in Paris next year. So in less than 500 days. “I am sure that we will be the first in the world to fly commercially,” said company boss Dirk Hoke at the opening of a hangar in Bruchsal near Karlsruhe. The air taxis are now to be built there.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, a type certificate is required for passenger operations. The European Union Agency for Aviation Safety is currently examining this for the VoloCity model, which is initially to be operated with safety pilots on board. “We expect this process to be completed in the first half of 2024,” said a spokesman. After that, a so-called air operator certificate and the licensing of the pilots would have to be applied for.
Permission to operate a take-off and landing site
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann was confident: “The thing can fly, you don’t have to prove it to anyone. So this part of the vision has been fulfilled.” The second part is now the important approval, before the third step is about marketability and series production – “and because we in Baden-Württemberg are of course world market leaders”. Hoke said: “From this hangar we will send our planes to the world’s metropolises and open new avenues of travel and transportation.”
Volocopter also received permission to operate a take-off and landing site. According to the company, the hall is now certified as a production facility. According to Hoke, one shift can produce 50 aircraft a year in the future. This can be expanded over more layers.
He was silent about the cost of one of the two-seaters, which weigh more than 500 kilograms and have a distinctive ring for the rotors on the roof, and which currently fly around 20 minutes at a time. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing spoke of a pioneering achievement: “We are at the beginning of a new era here.” Flights would be quieter and more climate-friendly thanks to battery-powered aircraft.
Biggest challenge: speed of battery development
“The dream of flying in a cheap, quiet and locally emission-free form has come closer for many.” And while you can hardly calculate travel times by car in big cities, flights can be calculated reliably, says Wissing. This is also important for transporting tissue samples, for example, if a doctor needs quick results during an operation.
From the point of view of the Federal Ministry of Transport, the whole thing is just a beginning: “But we want to develop the full potential of air taxis more and step by step,” said the spokesman. For example, so that flights can be carried out without a safety pilot on board in the future, the task now is to clarify detailed technical and legal issues. A group of experts should develop a strategy for “Advanced Air Mobility” and meet for the first time in April. Company boss Hoke sees the greatest challenge for the future in the speed of battery development. He expects that the next generation of batteries will be available from 2025 – and larger aircraft will then be feasible from 2026.