Volocopter flies over Marina Bay
exc-5daf28c96e302062be7a0fc0
Volocopter is making its urban air-mobility dream a reality, taking a crucial step towards this goal by completing its first manned eVTOL flight over Marina Bay in Singapore.
The German eVTOL manufacturer has worked closely with the Singapore government to trial the viability of air-taxi services in the country. Yesterday was the last step of the trial period, with Volocopter conducting a manned test flight in its 2X eVTOL over the bay, a flight that lasted approximately two minutes and covering 1.5km.
Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter said: “The flight today in Singapore was the most advanced Volocopter flight yet and the piloted flight was as stable as ever. 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.”
Volocopter started working with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in 2018 and has become the country’s sole aircraft OEM partner to trial urban air-mobility (UAM) services across the country.
To build the infrastructure to support its UAM vision, the company brought on board drone infrastructure company Skyports to construct the landing area and FBO for Volocopter’s aircraft. Skyports revealed concept art for the first ‘Voloport’ at the ITS World Congress in Singapore yesterday.
The Voloport is currently under construction and not certified for flight yet. Today’s test flight instead took off from a mobile prototype which will remain at Marina Bay until the end of the week.
Mr Ho Yuen Sang, director (Aviation Industry) for CAAS said:” “Since late 2018, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has been working with Volocopter to facilitate this flight in Singapore. The Volocopter team went through a series of stringent evaluations to ensure that all the necessary safety requirements were met before the flight was allowed to take place.
“By working closely with companies such as Volocopter, we hope to facilitate innovations for beneficial uses whilst ensuring aviation and public safety,”
To reinforce its presence in Singapore, Volocopter opened an office in the city state in January this year and has started to build up a local team to help support expansion across the South East Asia region. It is also working towards certifying its latest eVTOL design, the VoloCity.
