Volocopter conducts first crewed eVTOL test flight in South Korea
Five-minute crewed and public test flight of the Volocopter 2X demonstrates South Korea’s goal to achieve UAM commercialization by 2025.
Photo Credit: Volocopter, CC0 1.0 Universal.
On Nov. 11 German urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter (Bruchsal) completed the first test flight with its Volocopter 2X electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Seoul, South Korea, the second city in Asia that Volocopter has conducted a test flight following the first public flight trial over Singapore’s Marina Bay area in 2019. The Republic’s Minister for Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MoLIT) Noh Hyeong Ouk, together with senior officials from Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea and German Embassy, witnessed the historical test flight, which marks a milestone in Volocopter’s plan of introducing air taxis globally.
The five-minute crewed test flight took place at Gimpo International Airport, covered a distance of approximately three kilometers (approx. 1.86 miles), reached a maximum altitude of 50 meters and maximum speeds of 45 kilometers per hour (~28 miles per hour). The test flight was part of the MoLIT’s UAM demonstration event, “Open the Urban Sky.”
“With MoLIT’s comprehensive K-UAM roadmap, South Korea is well positioned to achieve the goal of commercializing UAM by 2025,” notes Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. “We are honored to conduct the nation’s first crewed public eVTOL test flight and prove yet again that the future of air taxis is here and now with Volocopter’s aircraft. As the pioneers of the UAM industry, we look forward to working closely with friends and partners from both the government agencies and private sectors to make UAM a reality in South Korea.”
Volocopter offers a family of electrically powered aircraft that can transport passengers (the VoloCity and VoloConnect) and goods (the VoloDrone). Volocopter contends that it is the only eVTOL company that has obtained design and production organization approvals (DOA and POA) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Volocopter is scheduled to conduct a public test flight at Incheon airport on Nov. 16, 2021, (weather permitting) during K-UAM Confex 2021.
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