Volocopter, a German aviation company developing passenger and cargo eVTOL aircraft, has received permission from the French Ministry of Transport for an eVTOL floating landing pad at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

As a result of the June 2023 collaboration between Volocopter and Paris airport authority group ADP, the vertiport would be used for demonstration flights for the VoloCity eVTOL at the Olympic Games. Volcopter is the only eVTOL company that has received this approval; other manufacturers failed to develop prototypes in time for the Olympic Games.

While the demonstration flights would not be for paying customers, it is expected to make a significant impact on the development of commercial air taxi services in Europe. The Vertiport de Paris-Austerlitz built on the River Seine will be allowed to operate between 8 am and 5 pm with two flights per hour and a maximum of 900 flights during the entire event. It can continue to operate between these hours until December 31, 2024.

Analyst QuickTake: Following insolvency risks in April 2024, Volocopter received an undisclosed amount of funding in June 2024 from existing shareholders, which it intended to use to complete type certification of its two-seat VoloCity aircraft. Volocopter expects to receive the certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by the end of 2024.