In preparation for the 2024 Olympics, French officials are testing electric air taxis to transport attendees during events.
Key Details
- When the summer Olympics take place in Paris in 2024, guests may have the option to travel from one end of the city to another via air taxi.
- France’s main airport operator, Aeroports de Paris, is running the new testing facility with UK company Skyports.
- Skyports is among the leading developers for a flying taxi base it calls vertiports.
- The testing hub is located at Pontoise Cormeilles aerodrome and contains a model with passenger terminals, take-off and landing areas, and control zones similar to the proposed layout for 2024.
Why it’s news
While flying taxis aren’t isolated to Paris, the goal of having the machines ready for the Olympics is accelerating development.
Aside from ensuring the technology is ready, developers will need to gain regulatory approval by the second quarter of 2024. This will be a tight deadline as the Olympic games are set to begin shortly after.
There will be two routes available for the flying taxis. One will take guests from Chalres de Gaulle and Le bourget airports to the central Paris area. The vertiport for this route will be on the Seine river itself in the form of a floating barge.
The second route will stretch from Saint-Cyr aerodrome to a vertiport near Versailles.
Aeroports de Paris CEO Austin de Romant has also expressed the hope that these flying taxis will not just be a form of convenient transportation—but a help in the fields of health and logistics, Bloomberg reports.
Paris Region president Valérie Pécresse hopes that the city will become known as the location of the first passenger flight for the taxis.
Backing up a bit
Various cities around the world are working toward implementing flying taxis into the city infrastructure.
Dubai recently unveiled its flying taxis through China-based company XPeng Aeroht. Its two-seater vehicle is designed for low flying expeditions like a sightseeing tour.
United Airlines and Delta have also announced their own investments into flying taxis in the near future. Rome plans to have flying taxis in advance of the 2025 Vatican Jubilee.
