Volocopter’s Olympic plans for ‘flying taxis’ in Paris fail to take off

German manufacturer Volocopter has been conducting test flights in the Paris region for several years and had lobbied hard for authorisation from European authorities in time for the Olympics, which end on Sunday.

Its helicopter-like “Volocity” aircraft is fitted with 18 electric-powered rotors on a circular frame above the fuselage and has two seats, one for a pilot and another for a passenger.

Test flights had been due to take place during the Games, landing on a float on the Seine near the Austerlitz railway station in southeastern Paris, but they will now happen in a suburban town.

The company has partnered with French airport operator ADP, the capital’s metro and bus operator RATP, and the Paris regional government.

Certification for VoloCity has been delayed by a few weeks over its motors, ADP deputy CEO Edward Arkwright said.

“We are a little disappointed but in any case we had said that we would not make any compromises with security,” he added.

Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke said the delay was due to “an American supplier who was not capable of providing what he had promised”.

He said the motors would be sent back to France next week but not in time for the test flights to be held in Paris before the Olympics close.

The project already had to scale down its ambitions in recent months after it failed to get authorisation from European air safety authorities in time to carry passengers for the Paris test flights.

Its promoters now aim to fly the aircraft from a floating platform on the Seine by the end of the year before the reopening of the capital’s Notre Dame Cathedral in December.

“We are still hopeful about flying these aircraft above the Seine before Notre Dame reopens,” ADP CEO Augustin de Romanet told Franceinfo radio.

Paris city opposition

De Romanet said European certification authorities asked the US supplier to make changes to the motors because they were experiencing “small vibrations”.

The companies had hoped to use the global draw of the Olympics to show the technology could efficiently link “vertiport” take-off and landing sites.

However, test flights without passengers will be held in the aerodrome of the suburban town of Saint Cyr l’Ecole, west of Paris, on Thursday and Sunday, they said.

The town is close to the Chateau de Versailles, where Olympic equestrian events are being held.

Backers tout flying taxis as a low-carbon form of aviation and hope future larger versions could be used as ambulances or in other roles.

However, many city officials in Paris have derided the plans as harmful to the environment.

The mayor’s office has tried to block the flights in court.