Air transport information technology specialist SITA has chosen Volocopter as its preferred digital and IT systems partner for vertiports, the companies said Tuesday. Under the agreement, SITA also becomes the latest investor to join Volocopter’s Series E funding round.
Volocopter’s launch product, the VoloCity eVTOL air taxi, will operate routes in congested cities where customers can hail flights via designated vertiports. SITA will contribute its expertise in air transport for the emerging urban air mobility (UAM) industry, developing new operating standards and what it calls a “digital-first” passenger experience. SITA's IT portfolio includes airport management and operations, passenger operations, flight and aircraft operations, baggage processing, and border management.
Volocopter has gained a reputation for its integrated UAM ecosystem approach. Its digital operating system, the VoloIQ, connects all partners, thereby enabling a “holistic” service. The VoloIQ therefore allows for a “digital-first” approach as part of a cloud-based system now in the process of securing certification by the relevant aviation authorities.
"Volocopter consistently takes a holistic ecosystem approach, said Volocopter chief commercial officer Christian Bauer. “Working in concert with our partners, we are setting up for commercial operations. This involves establishing the requisite infrastructure, maintenance, flight operations, IT, and customer services. SITA is a leading IT provider for airports and airlines, and we believe there is no better partner to make our seamless travel experience possible."
Late last year, Volocopter raised another $182 million in the second signing of its Series E funding round from Saudi regional development project Neom and Hong Kong’s Gly Capital Management. Volocopter said that the funding would carry the company beyond the certification of the VoloCity electric passenger aircraft.
Volocopter boasts more than 10 years of development experience and has flown some 1,500 test flights. The only electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company to receive Design Organization Approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Volocopter expects to launch its first commercial air taxi routes within two years in places such as Singapore, Rome, Paris, and the Neom region.
