GERMANY/SINGAPORE. Urban air mobility (UAM) pioneer Volocopter has today released a new report which claims that its services could potentially deliver an estimated S$4.18 billion (US$3.1 billion) in cumulative economic benefits to Singapore by 2030.
The new document, titled The launch of urban air mobility in Singapore – a roadmap, also shares details on potential air taxi routes within Singapore and across to islands in Indonesia and Malaysia, use cases and operational considerations.
Based on the latest estimates from Volocopter’s internal studies, the high value economic benefits and the creation of up to 1,300 local jobs can be achieved in Singapore by the end of the current decade. These benefits include revenues from sales of air taxi tickets, contributions to suppliers and government bodies, R&D investments, jobs created to support the air taxi service, and more.
VoloConnect, the latest development within the company’s family of aircraft, will allow seating for up to four passengers on routes of up to 100 kilometres at a speed of 180 km/h, using a hybrid lift and push design. This increase in flight range will significantly enhance regional connectivity for Singapore and open up new travel destinations.
Alongside promoting electric cars and public transportation, UAM has been identified by the Singapore government as an enabler towards achieving the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and act as an engine for economic growth in a post-pandemic world.
Working closely with several key stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Economic Development Board, Volocopter has committed to launching UAM in Singapore as one of the first cities globally.
Volocopter Chief Commercial Officer Christian Bauer said: “We are excited to have progressed to the next step of our UAM journey in Singapore today, by presenting a roadmap that sets out further details on the business and operation plans leading up to our commercial launch in the next two years.
“This can only be achieved through our close collaboration we have been fostering for the last few years with the Singaporean authorities and other local partners.”
He added: “Basing our APAC headquarters in Singapore has enabled us to expand rapidly into other countries across the region. For example, we established a joint venture with Geely in China, joined the Osaka Roundtable in Japan, and conducted South Korea’s first crewed public air taxi test flights.
“We believe the launch of UAM in Singapore will truly enhance the Lion City’s position as one of the most innovative cities in the world.”
The target for the initial launch for Volocopter in Singapore will be tourist flights over Marina Bay and Sentosa, then to expand its network to include cross-border flights to Indonesia and Malaysia.
Volocopter envisions the establishment of four to six vertiports – to be known as VoloPorts and to be developed with infrastructure partner Skyports – in Singapore by 2030, located in the Marina South, Sentosa, and Changi areas.
An air taxi flight in a Volocopter 2X prototype over Marina Bay in 2019 gave observers first-hand experience of what an air taxi looks and sounds like. It was the first ever crewed air taxi flight demonstration to take place over a city.
Volocopter is the only electric take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer at the present time that has a family of electrically-powered aircraft which includes air taxis for short and long urban routes (the VoloCity and VoloConnect) and heavy-lift drones for goods (the VoloDrone).
It is also the first and only eVTOL company currently holding both the required design and production organisation approvals to advance its aircraft towards commercial launch.
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