by DRONELIFE Staff Author Ian J. McNabb
German advanced air mobility company Volocopter recently announced successful crewed missions in Osaka and Amagasaki. The weeklong suite of testing is to organize the crew, communications systems, and testing procedures for a showcase of their eVTOL air taxi, the VoloCity, on the 2025 World EXPO hosted in Osaka, Japan. Designed each to organize the eVTOLs for the event and showcase the technology to locals, an array of local officials and onlookers looked on at the ultimate test flight event hosted by the Sumitomo Corporation, Volocopter’s local strategic partner and investor. As well as, greater than 200 local students attended a Q&A with Osaka’s governor and mayor, together with Volocopter’s Managing Director Christian Bauer and Chief Pilot Paul Stone.
The tests were accomplished on the Osaka heliport, positioned near the planned EXPO pavilion site on Osaka Bay. Of their press release, Volocopter highlighted the importance of local testing before the event with the intention to begin collaboration with regulators just like the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, local air traffic controllers and first responders, together with infrastructure owners, all of whom are key to the success of future testing and demonstration efforts.
Hirofumi Yoshimura, Governor of Osaka Prefecture, said: “I’m very joyful that I witnessed Volocopter’s test flight up close alongside a whole bunch of excited students and so near the positioning of the 2025 EXPO. The 2X didn’t disappoint, with a stable and incredibly quiet flight. I actually have great expectations for eVTOLs, and with the assistance of Hyogo and other neighboring prefectures, we’ll push forward to make the EXPO successful to support the long run of the industry beyond 2025”.
“Seeing the youngsters’s faces light up when the Volocopter took to the air was absolutely the highlight of the day,” said Christian Bauer, Managing Director of Volocopter. “As a novel technology, public awareness of eVTOLs and the creation of the UAM ecosystem are where we’d like to focus for Japan. Volocopter and partners are preparing early for the 2025 Expo to have the advanced know-how to operate our eVTOLs seamlessly when the time comes”.
Earlier within the week, the crewed Volocopter 2X also performed aircraft behavioral testing with the Latest Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a national development and research center. Funding was provided by Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, Hyogo Prefecture, and NEDO, with further support from its sponsors corresponding to Sekisui Chemical Company, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Kintetsu Group Holdings, and Schenker-Seino Company.
Other recent projects from Volocopter include air taxi testing in Downtown Manhattan, a partnership with an emergency medical services provider in Germany, and efforts to supply air taxi services throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics.
More information on VoloCopter’s suite of eVTOLs is obtainable here.