{"id":15463,"date":"2024-08-08T10:17:57","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T10:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1409215"},"modified":"2024-08-08T10:17:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T10:17:57","slug":"paris-olympics-air-taxi-flights-scrapped-over-certification-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=15463","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics air taxi flights scrapped over certification delays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span>Volocopter won\u2019t be operating an air taxi service at the Paris Olympics after all, following a delay in the certification of its aircraft\u2019s engine, AFP <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AFP\/status\/1821414526153347169\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span>reports<\/span><\/a><span>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The setback deals a major blow to the German <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/topic\/startups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">startup<\/a>, which has been lobbying hard for several months to get its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles ready in time for the Games.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In July, French authorities cleared Volocopter\u2019s two-seater, 18-rotor craft for takeoff. The mini-copters were going to whisk passengers, including<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/air-taxis-approved-paris-olympics-macron-invited\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>French president Emmanuel Macron<\/span><\/a><span>, to and from a \u201cvertiport\u201d built on a barge on the River Seine.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, certification for the air taxi\u2019s engines has been delayed by a few weeks, spluttering the plans. Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke told AFP that the hold up was due to \u201can American supplier who was not capable of providing what he had promised.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper latest channel-cta hs-embed-tnw\">\n<div id=\"hs-embed-tnw\" class=\"channel-cta-wrapper\" readability=\"8.5\">\n<div class=\"channel-cta-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tnw.events\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"><\/div>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tnw.events\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"channel-cta-input\" readability=\"12\">\n<p class=\"channel-cta-title\">The &lt;3 of EU tech<\/p>\n<p class=\"channel-cta-tagline\">The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol&#8217; founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It&#8217;s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>However, Volocopter will conduct <a href=\"https:\/\/www.volocopter.com\/en\/newsroom\/vc-paris-evtol-op-validation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">test flights<\/a> without passengers at an aerodrome in the town of Saint Cyr l\u2019Ecole, west of Paris, today and on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1409237 size-full js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/08\/Crewed_Volocopter_eVTOL_flying_at_Aerodrome_of_Saint-Cyr-l-_cole.jpg\" alt=\"a crewed volocopter air taxi being tested at the Saint Cyr l'Ecole aerodrome on Thursday 8 August 2024. \" width=\"1640\" height=\"923\"><figcaption>Volocopter conducted a crewed test of its air taxi at the Saint Cyr l\u2019Ecole aerodrome on Thursday, 8 August 2024. Credit: Volocopter<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1409237 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/08\/Crewed_Volocopter_eVTOL_flying_at_Aerodrome_of_Saint-Cyr-l-_cole.jpg\" alt=\"a crewed volocopter air taxi being tested at the Saint Cyr l'Ecole aerodrome on Thursday 8 August 2024. \" width=\"1640\" height=\"923\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<h2><b>Hot air (taxi)?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span>Volocopter, which has raised over $750mn in funding, hoped that operating flights at the Paris Olympics would draw global attention to its technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Air taxi startups and their backers believe the electric aircraft could offer a low-carbon alternative to cars, reducing congestion in cities. Some, including Volocopter, even plan to use them as emergency rescue or medical vehicles.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, air taxis have so far yet to live up to the hype \u2014 and the million-dollar bets of deep-pocketed venture capitalists.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Startups like Volocopter, the UK\u2019s<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/another-european-evtol-startup-delays-launch-certification-hurdles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span>Vertical Aerospace<\/span><\/a><span>, and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/flying-car-startup-eyes-2025-takeoff-following-us-eu-certification\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span>Lilium<\/span><\/a><span> have all faced delays in bringing their eVTOLs to market. This is partly because designing, building, and certifying a completely new type of aircraft is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/electric-plane-startup-heart-aerospace-decarbonise-short-haul-flights-aviation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span> a <\/span><span>complex, lengthy, and exceedingly expensive process<\/span><\/a><span> .&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What\u2019s more, current versions of the aircraft can only shuttle around a handful of passengers at most,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/world\/europe\/article\/paris-games-flying-taxis-for-elite-may-not-take-off-ph2fdz7pt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> <span>drawing criticism<\/span><\/a><span> for being a transport solution aimed at the elite. Paris City Hall has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.connexionfrance.com\/news\/flying-taxis-for-paris-2024-olympics-meet-council-opposition\/141843\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span>described Volocopter\u2019s Olympics plans<\/span><\/a> <span>as \u201cabsurd\u201d and an \u201cecological mistake.\u201d One councillor described the project as \u201ca useless and hyper-polluting gadget for a few ultra-privileged people in a hurry.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nevertheless, Volocopter remains committed to getting its eVTOLs off the ground. Following the Olympics, the company will carry out two years of test flights in the Paris region. Hoke called this as a \u201clearning period\u201d designed to win over the public\u2019s trust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Volocopter will need \u20ac25mn-\u20ac30mn for the two years of demonstration flights around Paris, according to the AFP \u2014 and between \u20ac200mn-\u20ac300mn to come to market.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In May, the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d717e201-383e-426d-8fe6-126bf917f251\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> <span>Financial Times<\/span><\/a><span> reported that Volocopter was in \u201curgent talks\u201d to secure fresh funding to fuel its growth plans. The startup was in talks with existing and new European-based investors to support the \u201cstabilisation of the company,\u201d Hoke told the paper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Volocopter is currently building a new aircraft with four seats that could be ready by late 2026, early 2027. Although, if the track record of eVTOL startups is anything to go by, I\u2019d take that timeline with a big pinch of salt.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/paris-olympics-air-taxi-plans-scrapped-volocopter-evtols\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Volocopter won\u2019t be operating an air taxi service at the Paris Olympics after all, following a delay in the certification of its aircraft\u2019s engine, AFP reports.&nbsp;&nbsp; The setback deals a major blow&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15463"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}