AutoFlight, a provider of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) solutions, and Groupe ADP, a leader in airport operations, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to experiment with electric take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) “Prosperity I” from Pontoise Vertiport during the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

As the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games are set to serve as a global stage for innovation and progress, AutoFlight intends to showcase the capabilities of its world-record holding 250km-range Lift & Cruise eVTOLs, while Groupe ADP reinforces its commitment to fostering innovative air mobility. This collaboration aims to highlight AutoFlight’s potential in scaling up sustainable urban logistics and passenger transportation under real-world conditions.

Under the MoU, AutoFlight will conduct experimental piloted flights from the Pontoise Vertiport, the first European city to provide an eVTOL service. Pontoise Vertiport offers a comprehensive infrastructure encompassing dedicated take-off and landing areas, a passenger terminal, a fully equipped maintenance hangar, and advanced control areas. As Groupe ADP is spearheading the development of eVTOL infrastructure in the Paris Region with five additional vertiports in the making (Paris heliport in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris Austerlitz, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Le Bourget, Saint-Cyr l’Ecole), Pontoise offers the optimal setting to experiment AutoFlight's eVTOL technology.

AutoFlight's Prosperity I fixed-wing aircraft holds a world-record 250 km range and boasts energy consumption levels comparable to that of an electric car, says the company. AutoFlight is one of only a few eVTOL OEMs to have mastered the challenging ‘transition phase’ from vertical to horizontal flight, having done so hundreds of times, it says. The advanced engineering of the aircraft allows for significant reductions in trip length while maximizing asset utilization in urban environments, ushering in a new era of sustainable logistics and passenger transportation.