German emergency medical flight service ADAC Luftrettung has reserved delivery of two Volocopter VoloCity eVTOL aircraft for operational tests in 2023. The provisional order announced on December 15 following two years of collaboration between the two companies on a plan to use the eVTOL machines to bring first responders to accident sites.
"After the groundbreaking results of our feasibility study, we are expanding our technological lead with regards to integrating multicopters in rescue services, said Frédéric Bruder, managing director of the non-profit ADAC Luftrettung. “Volocopter is the only eVTOL on the market that is advanced enough to reliably plan a test program with for our purposes,” he said. “We are excited to have secured our right to receive amongst the first VoloCity multicopters upon receipt of a type certificate.”
Volocopter plans to launch its own air taxi services in the next two to three years. Earlier this year it gained design organization approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency.
“Our partnership with ADAC Luftrettung, Europe’s largest helicopter operator, clearly demonstrates the potential Volocopter multicopter technology brings across all areas of mobility— in this case as a new means to get medical help to more people, faster,” claimed Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter. “By reserving their first two VoloCitys, ADAC Luftrettung are making a clear statement of confidence about our readiness to deliver and in our multicopter technology.”
ADAC Luftrettung and Volocopter’s partnership began in 2018, when they announced the launch of a joint case study sponsored by the ADAC Foundation with the Institut für Notfallmedizin und Medizinmanagement (INM, Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medical Management) at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich to computer-simulate aeromedical missions in two regions in Germany. After simulating more than 26,000 emergency operations with multicopters for the Ansbach rescue service area with the air rescue bases at Dinkelsbühl in the German state of Bavaria and at Idar-Oberstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, the partners published their full report on the study in October.
The results showed that air rescue with piloted multicopters is possible, makes sense, and improves emergency care, said Volocopter in a statement. In the next two years, ADAC Luftrettung and Volocopter plan to conduct flight tests together on a special airfield to prepare for operational testing with the VoloCity in 2023.
