Volocopter tests air cab in Rome

The Bruchsal-based start-up is flying its cabs in Italian airspace for the first time.

A Volocopter air cab hovered over Rome's Fiuminco airport for a few minutes for the first time last Thursday. At an event for the press, city representatives and entrepreneurs, the start-up from Bruchsal in Baden-Württemberg, which was founded in 2011, showed how far it has come. Volocopter plans to offer flights from Fiuminco to Rome's city center in 2024.

Volocopter wants to offer piloted two- and four-seaters, as well as transport drones that can also operate autonomously. All of them take off vertically using an electric drive. This is why they need so-called vertiports, which are built especially for air cabs. This infrastructure is being built in Rome, Nice, Venice and Bologna in order to establish air cabs from 2024. The Vertiport in Rome is the first in the country and therefore a major milestone for Volocopter, as the start-up writes in a press release.

Anyone who wants to fly with Volocopter's services will be able to book a seat via an app and head for special landing points in the city. In Rome, the time saving is around 25 minutes compared to the train and car. It should take 20 minutes from Fiuminco to the city center.