Flying-taxi company Volocopter now selling tickets for first time riders

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By Matthew Griffin Future Transport 23rd September 2020

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Flying taxis, flying cars, call them what you will, are getting closer to entering service, and this is the first time a company has sold tickets to travel in them.

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After nearly a decade of development and testing, and much hype, and more than three years after Dubai announced its own aspirations to be the first to launch a flying robo-taxi service, Volocopter says it’s finally ready for its fleet of robo-sky taxis to take to take off with its paying passengers. Furthermore, the company is so confident in its ability to get all the flight certifications it needs to make that happen that it’s already selling tickets for those early rides in the sky.

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On Wednesday, the German aviation startup, which is backed by none other than Mercedez Benz, announced that it’s now taking reservations for its very first flights. Each “VoloFirst” ticket comes with a 15-minute flight aboard one of the company’s VoloCity aircrafts, a video of the trip and an official personalized certificate from the startup.

Fly the dream!

While Volocopter, which has been on my radar since 2016, is still waiting on certification from the local authorities it has decided to start selling tickets for public flights because of its recent successful tests in Germany, Finland and Singapore, according to a press release. But, because it is still waiting on full approval there are no set dates for the flights yet even though the company expects to commercially launch in the next “two to three years.”

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Founded in the early part of the last decade, Volocopter is one of a handful of aviation companies working to make the flying car a reality. During that time, the company has developed five aircraft, the most recent of which, the VoloCity, will be the basis for its air taxi fleet. That 18-rotor eVOTL has room for two passengers, has a range of over 21 miles and can reach a top speed of 62 mph.

“Based on our public test flights and regulatory achievement record, we have paved the way to make electric flight in cities common in just a few years,” CEO Florian Reuter said in a statement. “With the start of reservations, we now invite our supporters and innovators around the world to join us and be amongst the first to experience this new and exciting form of mobility.”

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Aviation enthusiasts have until December 31 this year to reserve a spot on one of Volocopter’s “VoloFirst” flights. Tickets cost €300 (about $355), meaning you’ll pay around $24 for every minute in the air, and can be reserved through this website with a 10 percent deposit. The company announced that only 1,000 seats would be made available, of which only 641 remain as of press time.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.