Volocopter will launch electric air taxi service at the Paris Olympics in 2024

Many companies have spent several years pursuing the long-held dream of flying cars—the industry still faces many challenges, but its development has accelerated significantly in 2023. Some players are preparing to begin commercial flying taxi services in 2024 and 2025. The cost and safety of such services are still questionable, but the technology promises to significantly save travel time.

Volocopter promises to be one of the first companies in the air taxi services market - it plans to launch its service at the Summer Olympics, which will be held in Paris in 2024. The company wants to open several routes between Paris airports and Versailles. Volocopter's plan has already been approved, but in the meantime the company continues to work on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Florida, New York and Osaka. Tests have shown that flying taxis can operate in major cities and international airports.

Joby Aviation, for its part, recently conducted air traffic control simulations with NASA and began building landing sites throughout Japan. Joby plans to launch in New York in 2025, around the same time Archer Aviation plans to launch a similar service in Chicago together with United Airlines. The industry leader so far is China, where authorities have already allowed EHang Holdings to transport passengers in Xinjiang and Shenzhen. The American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has prepared proposals to launch eVTOL on short routes by 2028.

Progress is obvious, as is the most important problem in the industry - the cost of services. Joby and United Airlines say that flying taxi services will eventually match the price of ground taxis. But the issue of safety is a much more important issue, and the technology of choice for vertical takeoff and landing in the United States by the nascent industry is associated with the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. These vehicles have been used by the US army since 2007, and ten crashes have already been recorded, resulting in the deaths of 24 people. After another disaster off the coast of Japan, the US army suspended the use of Osprey, on which $32 billion had been spent.

These considerations led to the closure of the Kitty Hawk startup and the corresponding Uber project. Perhaps Joby, EHang, Volocopter and Archer will have better luck.