Urban air mobility (UAM) specialist company Volocopter is given Approved Training Organisation (ATO) status in order to commence training pilots to fly its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxis.
The approval came from the German aviation regulator (Luftfarhrtbundesamt) after a year of rigorous checks and the company says it is currently finalising the training programme for pilots to fly its VoloCity eVTOL, incorporating new EASA regulations applicable to the operation of electric air taxis.
The announcement coincides with UK Government proposals that will see an increase in UAM activity and air taxi services by 2026.
Commenting on the approval, Volocopter Chief Risk and Certification office Oliver Reinhardt said: “This is another substantial milestone on the way to bring electric air taxis to cities around the world. It bears witness to the robust aviation company Volocopter has become over the past decade and how diligent and professional our entire team works.”
The news follows Volocopter’s Production Organisation Approval (POA) extension last month that allows the company to move from prototype production of its VoloCity to commercial serial production, to take place at its facilities in Bruchsal, Germany.
Under EASA’s Special Condition-VTOL (SC-VTOL) certification category, the VoloCity will become the first commercial eVTOL air taxi.
Image accredited to Volocopter
