As the dust settles over Le Bourget and the Paris Air Show, electric aircraft pioneer AutoFlight today announced it will conduct piloted experimental flights of its Prosperity I aircraft during the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The infrastructure is ready to go
AutoFlight has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Groupe ADP, formerly Aeroports de Paris, which owns, manages or operates around 20 airports worldwide. In the Paris area it is the owner of Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports. It is also the operator of Pointoise Vertiport, the passenger terminal and testbed for future electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) operations located around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Paris.
Photo: AutoFlight
The MoU commits AutoFlight and Groupe ADP to conducting experimental eVTOL flights with Prosperity I from the Pontoise Vertiport during the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Paris Olympics are building up to be both a showcase and proving ground for eVTOL makers, with various high-profile OEMs already committing to operating live flights in the French capital next year.
Photo: AutoFlight
Mark Henning is the managing director of AutoFlight Europe, and he said the 2024 games will be a global celebration, and AutoFlight would take pride in its technology being part of it.
“Through conducting experimental piloted flights from the Pontoise vertiport, a best-in-class infrastructure operated by Groupe ADP, we aim to showcase the immense potential of Advanced Air Mobility. Our 250km-range eVTOLs will operate in real-world conditions, highlighting their capabilities in urban environments and their invaluable contribution to sustainable logistics and mobility.”
The pressure is on AutoFlight to deliver
The MoU was signed on Tuesday by AutoFlight CEO Tian Yu and Groupe ADP Deputy CEO Edward Arkwright, and it aims to highlight “AutoFlight’s potential in scaling up sustainable urban logistics and passenger transportation under real-world conditions.” Prosperity I, showcased at the air show, is designed for safe, quiet, affordable urban trips and regional journeys.
Photo: Autoflight MOU Signing
AutoFlight claims a “world record” range of 250 kilometers and said the aircraft is one of only a few to “have mastered the challenging transition phase from vertical to horizontal flight, having done so hundreds of times.” The OEM also said it consumes around the same energy as an electric car, and Prosperity I will usher in a new era of sustainable logistics and passenger transportation.
Photo: AutoFlight
The Pontoise Vertiport is Europe’s most advanced airfield for sustainable air mobility, and its infrastructure includes dedicated take-off and landing areas, a passenger terminal, a fully equipped maintenance hangar and advanced control areas. ADP Groupe is heavily involved in eVTOL infrastructure, including five additional vertiports on the drawing board. These are at the Paris heliport in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris Austerlitz, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Le Bourget and Saint-Cyr I’Ecole.
Image: AutoFlightÂ
This collaboration covered by the MoU is another element of Groupe ADP’s efforts to build a unique Paris area air mobility ecosystem. The company has been putting that ecosystem together since 2020 as part of its determination to be at the forefront of the drive toward advanced urban air mobility.
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