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Associated Press

It was a tantalising vision: autonomous flying taxis zipping spectators around the Paris Olympics, their electric engines humming softly over the cityscape, ushering in a new era in public transport.
Certification delays dashed that dream. But the backers of the Volocopter aircraft that was meant to ferry Olympic fans are not giving up. They carried out a test flight on Sunday, marking the last day of the 2024 Olympics with a sunrise demonstration over the resplendent grounds of the Versailles palace.
The craft carried baggage, but no people, when it took off from the gardens of Versailles, from where the first hot-air balloon took flight in 1783.
The Paris region had planned for a small fleet of pilot-less air taxis for the Olympics, operated by Germany’s Volocopter and the Paris airport authority ADP.
Five Olympic routes were planned, including one landing on a platform on the Seine River – and Volocopter chief executive Dirk Hoke hoped that French President Emmanuel Macron would be his first passenger.

But Augustin de Romanet, chief executive of Parisian international airports operator Groupe ADP, said on Thursday that Volocopter had failed to win certification from Europe’s air safety agency in time for the Games.
Manufacturers of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft – or eVTOL – remain confident that they are the wave of the future. Companies around the world are trying to get their models authorised for flight.
Volocopter now hopes to get permission to carry passengers over Paris for the city’s next major event: the reopening of fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in December.
And rivals are aiming to make the vision of Olympic spectators hopping around venues in autonomous flying machines a reality the next Summer Games – in Los Angeles in 2028.


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Future of transport

Air taxis failed to get certified for the Paris Olympics. There’s still hope for LA 2028

Flying taxi operator Volocopter hopes to get permission to carry passengers over Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in December. Photo: EPA-EFE

Augustin de Romanet, chief executive of Groupe ADP, poses after riding on a test flight of the VoloCity flying taxi at the Trianon in Versailles, west of Paris, on August 11, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

AeroHT, flying car affiliate of Chinese EV maker Xpeng, raises US$150 million in financing

A staff member prepares an X2 flying car for a demonstration flight at the headquarters of Xpeng AeroHT in Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province, on May 15, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Staff members move the electric flying car of AeroHT after a demonstration flight in Beijing on June 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Chinese EV battery maker CATL invests in ‘flying car’ developer AutoFlight

AutoFlight’s five-seat Prosperity electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle seen in Shenzhen on February 27, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

EHang’s EH216-S passenger aerial vehicle seen in Guangzhou on May 14, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

China moves closer to launching flying taxi services as EHang seeks Beijing’s go-ahead

EHang is working closely with the Civil Aviation Administration of China to establish a new operating system for pilotless aerial vehicles. Photo: SCMP

Chinese flying taxi maker EHang is now in the final stretch of a lengthy regulatory process to launch its urban air mobility service on the mainland. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese flying taxi maker EHang sells autonomous passenger drone for US$332,000 on Taobao as nation’s low-altitude economy takes off

A smartphone screenshot shows EHang’s EH216-S electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle up for sale on Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao marketplace. Photo: Simon Song

Aircraft maker EHang’s EH216-S autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle will be available in overseas markets from April 1, 2024. Photo: EHang

A screenshot of EHang’s EH216-S electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle that is up for sale on Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao marketplace. Photo: Handout

Multiple EH216-S aircraft built by EHang are seen parked at a vertiport – an area that supports the landing and take-off of these types of passenger vehicles – in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province. Photo: Handout

EHang’s EH216-S electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle is seen on display at the 2023 Indonesia International Motor Show held in Jakarta on February 23, 2023. Photo: Shutterstock

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Germany’s Volocopter and other autonomous flying taxi firms look to usher in a new era in public transport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics


Germany’s Volocopter and other autonomous flying taxi firms look to usher in a new era in public transport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
