Volocopter on Target to Achieve EASA Certification

Volocopter is committed to flying its VoloCity air taxi at the 2025 EXPO Osaka Kansai. A major regulatory milestone was achieved to make this ambitious goal a reality: the European Union Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) and Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) announced that they have accepted Volocopter’s application process for concurrent type certification (TC) of the fully electric VoloCity aircraft to fly commercially in Japan. Volocopter is currently pushing the envelope on flight testing and is on target to achieve certification for the VoloCity from EASA in 2024. As of now, the company is pursuing concurrent validation with three non-European civil aviation authorities: JCAB in Japan, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in Singapore.

To further strengthen Volocopter’s local ties from a business perspective, Sumitomo Corporation became the latest Japanese investor and strategic partner in the company to join its list of partners, via the Series E funding round. Sumitomo Corporation possesses a keen understanding of the global business market, the energy and resource sectors, as well as Japanese market operations. This move diversifies Volocopter’s global partnerships to establish an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem.

To increase public awareness and acceptance of electric takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) in Japan, Volocopter is showcasing its VoloCity full-scale static model for the first time from 8-12 March. The showcase event will take place at the Grand Front Osaka, a shopping mall with high footfall and located adjacent to the Osaka Umeda station, which sees 2.3 million passengers passing through every day.  Since late 2022, Volocopter is hosting UAM knowledge sessions for elementary school children in selected Osaka city wards, as part of its obligation to the Prefectural Government grant and will continue to involve the future generation of UAM passengers by offering VoloCity tours at the showcase event.