France's government has given the go-ahead for a floating landing pad for flying taxis to be built on the River Seine. It's set to be shown off during the Paris Olympics, but Paris City Hall says it plans to challenge the landing pad permit in court.
An official decree published Tuesday said that the pad "can be used until 31 December, 2024" after months of suspense over whether the taxis would take to the air during the July 26 - August 11 Paris Games.
Flying taxis
The landing site will float on the Seine near Austerlitz railway station in southeastern Paris.
So called "flying taxis" are large futuristic drones capable of transporting several people. (You can see the new Volocopter in the accompanying video between 3:47 – 5:13)
Flights will be limited to two per hour, between 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and no more than 900 over the whole trial period "given the experimental nature" of the vehicles, the decree read.
Private firms involved in the flying taxi project include Paris airport operator ADP and Germany-based Volocopter.
Its "Volocity" two-seaters are fitted with 18 electric-powered rotors on a circular frame above the fuselage.
They hope to use the global draw of the Olympics to show that the technology can efficiently link "vertiport" take-off and landing sites.
Four vertiports – airports for vertical take-off and landing vehicles – have already been set up in the Paris suburbs, including one at Charles de Gaulle airport, but the Austerlitz site will be the first within the city itself.
City Hall opposition
Backers tout flying taxis as a low-carbon form of aviation and hope future larger versions could be used as ambulances or in other roles.
But several city officials in Paris have derided the plans as harmful to the environment.
The Council of Paris had already expressed its opposition to the project.
"All of the Paris Council – the left, ecologists and the right – voted against flying taxis," David Belliard, the head of transport at Paris City Hall and a member of the Greens, told French public radio on Tuesday.
"They're not useful, they're un-ecological and very expensive. Only the wealthiest people are concerned by this," he said, slamming a tarriff of 135 euros for a 35-km journey as "outrageous".
Belliard also questioned the government's legitimacy since the presidential majority lost out to a new left-wing alliance (NFP) in last Sunday's snap leglislative elections.
People close to mayor Anne Hidalgo told French news agency AFP that City Hall would challenge the landing pad permit in court.
In a report published in September 2023, France's national environment authority (AE) found that an impact assessment for the landing pad was "incomplete" on issues including noise pollution, energy consumption and greenhouse emissions.
The taxis have yet to be certified by the European Union's Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) – meaning operators can only offer free demonstration flights during the Paris Olympics.
(with AFP)
