After almost ten years of development, the startup Volocopter is ready for its air taxi fleet to finally take off. At Greentech Festival in Berlin, the pioneer of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) announced that the world’s first public sale for electrical air taxi flight reservations has started.
Volocopter fans world-wide can reserve their tickets online and be amongst the very first to take this new form of mobility. The VoloFirst costs €300 (about $355) and can be reserved with a 10% deposit. There are only 1000 presale reservations available for a limited time. Each VoloFirst ticket includes a 15-minute flight on one of the company’s VoloCity aircraft, a video of the trip, and an official startup certificate.
Although Volocopter is still awaiting certification needed to operate its vehicles, it has decided to start selling tickets for its flights to attract people and create a niche for it in the market. The announcement follows Volocopter’s successful demonstration flights in Stuttgart, at Helsinki’s international airport, and over Singapore’s Marina Bay. The company hasn’t revealed the exact date for the start of flights, but it expects to launch commercial VoloCity flights in the “next 2-3 years”.
“Based on our public test flights and regulatory achievement record, we have paved the way to make the electric flight in cities common in just a few years. 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,” said Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter.
Founded at the beginning of the last decade, Volocopter has so far developed five aircraft, the last of which, VoloCity, will form the basis of its air taxi fleet. This 18-rotor eVOTL seats two passengers, has a range of more than 22 miles (35 km), and can reach a top speed of 68 mph (110 km/h).
Despite playing an important role, Volocopter is not the only company that is pioneering the new world of air taxis. Other names that have already been launched in this market include EHang, Lilium, Airbus, and more.
