[ad_1]
SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – German aviation company Volocopter announced on Wednesday (December 9) its commitment to launch air taxi services in Singapore, after two years of “close collaboration” with the city.
Volocopter’s emission-free aircraft takes off and lands vertically. Each autonomous electric drone can carry up to two passengers.
In partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), the startup plans to launch air taxi services in the Republic in the next three years.
In preparation for this, it created Volocopter Asia Holding and hired Hon Lung Chu as its Asia-Pacific head based in Singapore.
Volocopter said it will build a team of 50 pilots, engineers, operations specialists and business managers in the next three years prior to launching its business operations.
The company also expects to hire more than 200 full-time employees in Singapore to manage a route network by 2026.
The first route of your air taxi in the city-state will likely be a tourist route over the southern waters, offering views of the Marina Bay skyline. This could provide Singapore’s tourism industry with a new attraction, Volocopter said. Tracking connections may include cross-border flights to improve regional connectivity, he added.
Tan Kong Hwee, EDB Executive Vice President, noted that urban air mobility is an emerging area within the broader mobility sector, which has been identified as a growth industry for Singapore.
He added that the city-state is a major regional test bed for autonomous cars, electric vehicles and urban air mobility, and that EDB is pleased that Volocopter has chosen to anchor its research and development and business activities here.
Volocopter’s involvement in this new area of urban air mobility gives CAAS the opportunity to co-create regulations and technologies with the industry, said Tan Kah Han, senior director of the National Aviation Authority Unmanned Systems Group. This will also facilitate innovation to enable a future mode of transportation for Singapore, Tan noted.
Volocopter’s latest announcement comes after it successfully carried out a test flight in Singapore in October last year.
The startup also partnered with ride-sharing company Grab in February this year to conduct a joint feasibility study on the possibility of offering air travel in Southeast Asia. The two will search for the most suitable cities and routes to deploy air taxis, evaluate the best use cases, and explore the possibility of joint flight tests.
[ad_2]
