In the current context of environmental transition in air transport and economic recovery, Paris region, Groupe ADP and RATP Group aim to develop an urban air mobility industry branch, with a focus on the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL).

The partners have therefore decided to bring together all the conditions to make the emergence of this new mode of transport possible to complement the existing modes, whether for the public or for goods. Furthermore, the prospect of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games provides an exceptional opportunity to involve an entire industry in order to make Paris Region a leader in the global market of urban air mobility. Volocopter, the electric air taxi company and pioneer of Urban Air Mobility, reinforces the project’s feasibility by bringing its 9 years of aviation experience to the initiative.

A life-size test area in Pontoise

Facing the challenges raised by this new form of mobility in terms of use, acceptability, regulations, technologies and industrialization, the chosen approach is to offer a unique test area at the Pontoise airfield, profiting from a real and secure aeronautical environment, in a peri-urban location, 35 km northwest of Paris. In the first half of 2021, necessary arrangements will be made, first on the airside, then on the boarding areas inside the buildings (suitable parking areas, electrical recharging systems, ground markings). With the support of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and Eurocontrol, European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, parking, takeoff and landing operations as well as operations around the vehicle, whether maintenance or electrical recharging, will be tested in a real aeronautical environment in June 2021.

Launch of an international call for expressions of interest

In addition, in order to construct an ecosystem of large groups, SMEs, start-ups, laboratories and universities in the Paris Region over the long term, a worldwide call for expressions of interest has been launched, with the support of the Choose Paris Region agency. Applications will be open from 1 October, until 13 November 2020, under the following link www.reinventairmobility.com, and the selected projects will be announced on 18 December 2020.

It covers all the components of urban air mobility:

• Vehicle development: for manufacturers and equipment suppliers (batteries, avionics, etc.);
• Urban infrastructure: for energy companies or vertiport designers;
• Operations: for suppliers of intermodal solutions, maintenance, or digital platforms;
• Airspace integration: for suppliers of unmanned traffic management (UTM) or communication/navigation systems;
• Acceptability: for laboratories or research institutes dealing with social and environmental issues.

Volocopter, with its track record of successful public flights in Singapore, Helsinki, and Dubai, is the first industrial player to position itself as a partner.