2024 Paris Olympics Will Have Flying Taxis To Ease Up Traffic Congestion
Airport operator Groupe ADP has been handed the responsibility of finalising a site by the end of the year for hosting flying VTOLs aerodromes around Paris. The goal is to have the venues ready within the next 18 months and once operational have flying taxis take-off from these &lsquoVertiports&rsquo every six minutes Airbus already has two working prototypes for the service.
One of the key mobility solutions actively being worked upon is an air taxi service within a region. While it might seem a distant possibility, several auto majors have lined up their resources to achieve the goal. And if and when they do, what better stage to display it for the first time than the Olympics!
When the world will have its eyes on Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games, the capital of France might have a technological marvel in its kitty. A recent announcement by Airbus, RATP and ADP at the Paris Air Show confirms that the city plans to offer air taxi service to the visitors at airports and tournament sites, in a bid to eliminate traffic woes.
VTOLs or Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicles will be used for the same. As the name suggests, the vehicles are able to take off vertically like helicopters and travel from one ¡®vertiport¡¯ to another, carrying passengers inside. In several of the ongoing projects, the VTOLs will also operate autonomously.
Bell Nexus eVTOL (Representative Image: Bell)
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In Paris, airport operator Groupe ADP has been handed the responsibility of finalising a site by the end of the year for hosting flying VTOLs aerodromes around Paris, as per local reports. The company will be working with Airbus which has been extensively working on electric VTOLs for the past few years. The goal is to have the venues ready within the next 18 months and once operational, have VTOLs or flying taxis take-off from these ¡®Vertiports¡¯ every six minutes.
Airbus already has two working prototypes for the service. So the focus now would only be to appoint them in a phased manner across the city, with Vertiports at locations which can serve the maximum number of people. As per a CNN report, ADP executive director general Edward Arkwright estimated a $11.4 million in infrastructure investment for the project.
This is not the only project underway for a flying taxi service model. Industry giants like Boeing, Uber, Bell, car makers like Audi, Rolls Royce and even several startups like Zephyr Airworks, Hoversurf, Volocopter, EVA are working on such a concept. As the flying mobility model comes closer to becoming a reality, here is all you need to know about it and all you can expect out of it.
