German urban air mobility start-up Volocopter has opened up reservations for the world’s first public sale of electric air taxi flights, with 1,000 VoloFirst flights costing €300 ($A487).
Volocopter announced the news at the Greentech Festival in Berlin last week, with fans from around the world able to reserve their flight on the Volocopter Reservation Platform with only a 10% deposit on the €300 flight cost.
The VoloFirst flights include a flight duration of approximately 15 minutes scheduled within the first 12 months after commercial launch, a video of the passenger’s flight, and a limited-edition personalised certificate.
The announcement for 1,000 presale reservations comes after Volocopter’s successful demonstration flights in Stuttgart, at Helsinki’s international airport, and over Singapore’s Marina Bay.
“Based on our public test flights and regulatory achievement record, we have paved the way to make electric flight in cities common in just a few years,” said Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter.
“With the start of reservations, we now invite our supporters and innovators around the world to join us and be amongst the first to experience this new and exciting form of mobility.”
Volocopter successfully completed its first manned flight back in October over Singapore’s Marina Bay, the last trial of a demanding set of tests intended to verify and validate the technology. The test flight covered a distance of approximately 1.5-kilometres and lasted for two minutes at an average cruising height of 40-metres.
“The flight today in Singapore was the most advanced Volocopter flight yet and the piloted flight was as stable as ever,” said Florian Reuter in October.
“At the same time, we are showcasing a prototype of our full-scale VoloPort Infrastructure, allowing for a realistic demonstration of air taxi boarding and maintenance services. Never before have people been this close to experiencing what Urban Air Mobility in the city of tomorrow will feel like.”
The October test flight followed the successful August flight at Helsinki International Airport which served to integrate a Volocopter flight into both the Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) system.
“While the final certification for air taxis is still pending, we do have a detailed realistic timeline to launch commercial VoloCity flights in the next 2-3 years,” said Volocopter’s Chief Commercial Officer Christian Bauer, speaking last week.
“Moreover, those who reserve now can receive the latest updates about our progress and the commercial launch plan.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.