An article by Chloé, added on 02 December 2021 2 min. reading
From the end of winter, Pontoise-Cormeilles-en-Vexin airport, 35 km north-west of Paris, will experience the first flights of flying taxis. Indeed, this news was announced last Thursday by the promoters of the project. The first eVTOL tested will be that of the German company Volocopter.
Other start-ups such as Vertical Aerospace, Ascendance and Lilium are participating in the project. In addition, we also find Airbus and Thales as stakeholders. The choice fell on Pontoise airport for the first tests. Indeed, it is an airport " complete, with a 1.600-meter track, a fire station, a control tower", Said Edward Arkwright, number 2 of ADP. According to a joint statement to theat RATP, the Ile-de-France Region and ADP « this inauguration kicks off the first experiments in real conditions on electric vehicles with vertical take-off and landing". Thus, the RATP will provide its laboratory which analyzes noise and vibrations. Indeed, the interest is to see if these vehicles do not harm the hearing comfort of the populations.
The objective is to be able to transport "a few thousand passengers every day" by the end of the decade. The price of a race would be equivalent to twice the price of a VTC, or a hundred euros. Subject to certification, the project participants would like to set up two experimental lines during the 2024 Olympic Games. Thus, these lines would be set up at the heliport of Issy-les-Moulineaux - Saint-Cyr (Yvelines), as well as at Roissy-Le Bourget-Paris.
