It’s not science fiction. Individual flying taxis will fly over the capital for the Paris 2024 Games. They will be able to transport two people.
Flying taxis must enter service in Paris for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The technological challenge will be to transport 2 people each time, a pilot and a passenger, on board a vertical landing and take-off device, the Volocity, part pocket helicopter, part drone. Here, the blades are replaced by a ring which carries 18 propellers. Rotors powered by 9 batteries. The challenge will also be to reassure: the pilot will be there for that but he will do some extras since the flight promises to be fully automated. Eventually, by 2030, there will no longer be a pilot, but 2 passengers!
On board the Volocity, each essential element exists in duplicate: propellers, batteries, computers to continue flying even in the event of a breakdown, and to convince future customers. The flights, at an altitude of 400 to 500 meters and at a speed of 110 km/h, will be 5 times less noisy than with a standard helicopter.
Fast, clean and affordable
The aim will be to offer a transport solution that is fast, clean and affordable. Fast since we fly over the traffic jams. Own electric car. Affordable: we are talking about 80 to 100€ per trip, barely more than a motorcycle taxi, with a target of 60€ after the Games. On what route? Unlike taxis on the road, we will not be able to hail a flying taxi and ask it to take us anywhere. About ten VoloCity will fly during the Paris 2024 Games on two very specific lines: from Charles-de-Gaulle or Le Bourget airport to the Quai d’Austerlitz, and from Saint-Cyr-l’Ecole airport to the heliport of Issy-les-Moulineaux, west of Paris. That is about twenty km each time in less than 10′ compared to 2 hours sometimes by car.
These machines should indeed fly in a year! All the lights are green after more than 1,500 test flights, and the issuance of the latest certifications. Elsewhere in the world, this flying taxi is of interest to several major cities, including Dubai and Rome, where it could enter service – apart from the Olympics – before Paris.