A piece in eVTOL Insights asks whether Volocopter is the “dark horse of the eVTOL race to early success.”

Having spent the last few weeks immersed in the urban air mobility space, I think it is.

The German company has the goal of flying at the Paris Olympics, so in only two years from now.

However what I’ve considered particularly impressive is the work Volocopter is doing in Asia. It’s the eVTOL partner of NEOM, the new smart city being built in Saudi Arabia.

And it’s also been very active in Singapore. Here, Volocopter’s internal studies show that its UAM services can generate an estimated SGD 4.18 billion (US$ 3bn) in cumulative economic benefits and create up to 1,300 local jobs by 2030.

Initially there will be tourist flights over Marina Bay and Sentosa, then cross-border flights to Indonesia and Malaysia.

With the tests of its four seater ‘VoloConnect’, Volocopter claims to be “the only eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) developer in the Western hemisphere to have an entire fleet of distinct aircraft configurations undergoing flight tests” (others include the two seater VoloCity and the VoloDrone).

Look out next week for SimpliFlying’s report on the Urban Air Mobility market, where we highlight eight companies (out of the 200+ to receive VC funding), which we believe will make it through to the end. Volocopter is one of those eight.

The second Farnborough Air Show episode of Sustainability in the Air is out. In this special episode, SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam spoke to leading aviation industry figures, and asked them:

What’s the one initiative they are the most excited about getting to net zero?

Listen to answers from

Sean Breadshaw, Pratt & Whitney
Arturo Barreira, Airbus Latin America
Jane Ashton, easyJet
Jonathan Wood, Neste
Laia Barbara, WEF
Lauren Riley, United
Nicolas Chrétien, Airbus
Patrick Baudis, MHI RJ
Sheila Remes, Boeing

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