German air taxi developer and urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter has announced the opening of its production facilities in Bruchsal. The company also inaugurated a new hangar that will host the company’s final assembly line with an airfield to conduct development flight tests as well as quality checks.
All company-owned production sites, which will manufacture the first EASA-certified electric air taxis, are planned to kick into full operation later this month.
Back in 2021, Volocopter got the green light from EASA for its production process covering everything from the manufacturing of carbon fiber parts, all aspects of the electric propulsion unit, and final assembly with decking of the propulsion system and fuselage, to extensive end-of-line flight tests. After the approval, it took 18 months to set everything in place.
Volocopter’s production facilities have the capacity to assemble over 50 VoloCity aircraft each year, ahead of initial UAM demonstration services during the Paris Summer Olympics next year.
“Right here is where the aircraft that will change how humanity moves about cities will take off and make its way across the world,” said Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter. “This region is known for transforming mobility – the bicycle, the car, and soon Volocopter, too. Electric air taxis and Volocopter, in particular, is a technology made in Germany that will make the world a more sustainable place.”
With its family of aircraft (the VoloCity, VoloRegion, and VoloDrone), the company takes a unique approach by developing UAM as a holistic ecosystem. The German company has committed to launching commercial air taxi services in cities like Singapore, Rome, NEOM, and Paris as early as 2024.
