The prospect of tiny helicopters flying around cities first popped up in Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction film Metropolis, but has never truly taken off.
However, a desire by French President Emmanuel Macron to ensure Paris can be shown to be at the forefront of technology and enterprise when the Olympics come to town in 2024 has made it a reality.
While former British prime minister Boris Johnson stuck on a zip-wire was an enduring aerial image of the London Olympics, visitors to Paris may see Mr Macron take to the skies in a flying taxi.
They are expected to whizz passengers over the city's rooftops on a jaw-dropping journey past its historic buildings, below 500 metres, before gently landing them on a specially built pontoon beside the River Seine.
The battery-powered aircraft have been developed by Germany’s Volocopter and will provide the world's first commercial flying taxi service.
Technically known as an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, it has body of a conventional helicopter but instead of rotors, it is powered 18 whirling battery-powered propellers.
Dirk Hoke, Volocopter’s chief executive, believes the Paris debut of its air taxi will display technology to the world and mark the dawn of a new era of "urban air mobility".
“This will change the world as we know it,” Mr Hoke told The National.
“Even if it doesn’t happen in one or two years, we will see it slowly ramping up towards the end of the decade and we will see a full acceleration in the 2030s.”
There are now dozens of companies at various stages of developing the aircraft and investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates the market for such planes could be $1.5 trillion by 2040.
But it looks like the VoloCity will steal a march on them, flying two routes in Paris from five new "vertiports".
One goes right into the heart of the city and the other between two of its airports.
At each vertiport there will be passenger terminals, with the showpiece location being the platform by the river.
Mr Hoke is excited by the prospect of seeing the VoloCity take passengers on the memorable ride into the heart of Paris.
“The most thrilling one in my opinion is the one flying into downtown because helicopters are not allowed downtown,” he said.
“That’s spectacular and something that’s going to be really exciting. I’m really looking forward to it.”
VoloCity will have a pilot and just one passenger on board – like the world’s first commercial flight in 1914 – with just enough room for hand luggage.
The six air taxis, with a range of 35km, will operate eight to 10 hours a day with dozens of flights each during daylight hours.
Batteries can be swapped in and out in five-minute pit stops to keep the craft in the air.
In the meantime, Mr Hoke is confident VoloCity is on track to obtain a safety certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency. It has so far undergone 1,500 test flights.
“There’s no risk that we can delay our certification into 2025 and I guarantee we will get our certification in 2024,” he said.
“And it's not just some ministers who expect us to fly at this time, it’s also the French President.”
Having an air-taxi service at the Games was an idea Mr Macron was keen on to promote France as a tech start-up country.
Mr Hoke said Mr Macron was taken by the idea of urban air mobility as a way of demonstrating that to the world during the Games.
He has been pictured beside a VoloCity plane along with Mr Hoke, who invited him to be an early passenger.
“If we are commercially certified, I can’t see a good reason why this could not potentially be the case,” Mr Hoke said.
But he admits there is work to do to convince an often-sceptical public about the safety of the VoloCity.
“We understand people might be scared but the only way to convince them is for them to see us, like in Paris," Mr Hoke said.
"We have always done surveys of people before test flights and afterwards, and before it’s 50-50 and after they have witnessed it’s above 80 per cent.”
Volocopter is a company with big ambitions. It already has 700 staff and has secured a reported $762 million in investment, with the company valued at $1.7 billion.
In April the company opened its first assembly line, near Stuttgart in southern Germany, capable of producing 50 aircraft a year.
German engineer Mr Hoke joined the company in 2022 from Airbus, where he was chief executive of its defence and space division. He says he jumped at the chance to make history.
"How often do you get the chance to say your company is the first to do a commercial flight of a new concept? For me it was one of the reasons I joined Volocopter."
In June, Volocopter completed a series of flight tests in Neom, the futuristic city being built in Saudi Arabia, as part of the kingdom's push towards sustainable and smart mobility.
By the end of 2026, Volocopter will have developed six-seat aircraft with the aim of offering commuters the chance to beat the traffic, said Mr Hoke.
By the end of 2030 it hopes between 5,000 and 7,000 aircraft every year will be rolling off the production line.
Mr Hoke says that with the world moving towards a situation where 70 per cent of its population will soon live in cities, these aircraft will meet the demand for clean transport.
“The problem is that many of these cities have no option to grow their mass transportation systems," he said.
“So they will need alternatives because their streets are not the solution.
“If everyone has one or two vehicles our infrastructure will not be able to cope with that, so we will need totally new mobility concepts and we will be one that allows you more freedom.”
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
The Greatest Royal Rumble card
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
