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PARIS: The French government on Tuesday approved the construction of a floating landing pad on the Seine River for flying taxis to be showcased during the Paris Olympics.
The official decree said the apron “may be used until December 31, 2024” after months of suspense over whether the taxis would take to the skies during the Olympic Games, which run from July 26 to August 11.
The landing site will float in the Seine near the Austerlitz train station southeast of Paris.
The decree said that due to the experimental nature of the aircraft, the number of flights will be limited to two per hour between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the test period, and the number of flights will not exceed 900 during the entire test period.
Private companies involved in flying taxi projects include Paris airport operator ADP and Germany’s Volocopter.
Its two-seater “Volocity” has 18 electric rotors mounted on a circular frame above the fuselage.
They hope to capitalise on the global appeal of the Olympics to demonstrate that the technology can effectively connect take-off and landing sites at “vertiports”.
Although there are already four vertical take-off and landing airports in the suburbs of Paris, including Charles de Gaulle Airport, Austerlitz Airport will be the first vertical take-off and landing airport in the city.
Backers call flying taxis a form of low-carbon aviation and hope larger versions could one day be used as ambulances or for other purposes.
But many city officials in Paris derided the plans as harming the environment.
A source close to Mayor Anne Hidalgo told AFP on Tuesday that city hall would challenge the landing pad permit in court.
France’s national environmental agency found that an impact assessment of the landing zone was “incomplete” on issues such as noise pollution, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
None of the taxis have been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), meaning operators can only offer free demonstration flights during the Olympics. – AFP
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