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German-made Flying Taxi Unveiled in Paris

VOA News

   A German tech company, along with French regional officials, have
   unveiled a prototype of a flying taxi that could begin demonstration
   flights in Paris as early as 2024.

   At a news conference Wednesday at the Pontoise airport near Cergy, west
   of Paris, the Volocopter company presented the VoloCity air taxi, an
   electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, which the company will
   begin testing at the airport in June.

   The VoloCity aircraft will run on nine electric batteries, and it will
   carry a pilot and one passenger. It will have a range of 35 kilometers
   and a top speed of 110 kilometers per hour.

   Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter told reporters if those tests go as
   hoped, Paris regional authorities hope to have one prototype ready for
   demonstration flights during the Paris Olympics in 2024.

   But Reuter expressed optimism the aircraft could begin flying sooner.
   "We are a little more than two years away from final certification, so
   we expect toward the end of 2022 we will see the first commercial
   routes, and hopefully it will be Paris."

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