Volocopter opens reservations for first electric air taxi flights
$350 for a 15-minute taxi ride in three years.
If you want to be among the first to take a ride in Volocopter’s public electric air taxi -- and have a lot of patience -- you can now reserve a ticket for your flight. The German startup announced today that the “VoloFirst” flights will take off in the next two to three years, according to a Volocopter statement.
Tickets cost €300 and can be reserved with a 10 percent deposit. That includes a 15-minute Volocopter flight scheduled within the first 12 months after commercial launch, a video of your flight and a personalized certificate. You’ll also get updates on the company’s progress and commercial launch plan as you await your departure date. As of Wednesday afternoon, 851 of the 1,000 presale tickets were remaining.
The “VoloCity” electric air taxi recently completed successful demonstration flights in Stuttgart, Germany, at Helsinki, Finland’s international airport and over Marina Bay in Singapore. Company officials decided to launch ticket sales based on those flights, said Volocopter’s Chief Commercial Officer Christian Bauer. The company’s final certification for air taxis is still pending. In the meantime, one of Volocopter’s objectives is to “gain market traction,” though how the company is measuring that pre-launch isn’t entirely clear. If you’re in Germany and want to see what Volocopter’s vehicle looks like before reserving a ticket, a VoloCity model is currently on display at Berlin’s Greentech Festival.
