Germany's LBA civil aviation authority this week extended Volocopter’s production organization approval (POA), clearing the way for the company to start serial manufacturing of its two-seat VoloCity eVTOL aircraft. The approval announced on Thursday covers two new Volocopter production and hangar facilities at Bruchsal in Germany that the company built in 2023.
The company is busy working towards its objective of achieving EASA type certification for the aircraft this summer, which would make the VoloCity the first eVTOL model to achieve this approval in Europe. Volocopter and partners aim to be ready to operate some commercial passenger-carrying flights in Paris when the French capital hosts the 2024 Olympic Games, which begin on July 29.
In case full type certification cannot be achieved in time for that event, Volocopter is working with EASA, the French DGAC air safety agency, and airports group ADP to secure a permit to fly on a limited basis during the Olympics.
More progress was achieved this week, when on Friday the LBA gave clearance for its Volocopter Air Services subsidiary to be an approved training organization with the authority to train eVTOL pilots. Over the past year, the German authorities have been auditing the company to ensure that its training equipment and materials meet the required standards and are available to deliver the required training for the new pilot license.
Volocopter secured an EASA design organization approval back in 2019, and this was followed by the initial POA in 2021 when the company acquired aircraft manufacturer DG Flugzeugbau. According to Volocopter, the extended POA is the first of its type in the industry, specifically giving the go-ahead to move from prototyping to what is effectively a preliminary phase of serial manufacturing of its eVTOL design.
“This is a major milestone for us,” commented Volocopter’s chief operating officer Andreas Fehring. “Aircraft design and production are strongly regulated for a good reason: to produce safe mobility products. I am pleased that Volocopter’s production facility has the trust and stamp of approval from LBA to manufacture commercial aircraft that can be safely delivered to customers once the VoloCity receives type certification. Our team has proven that we can produce safe and high-quality test aircraft, and we now look forward to shortening our production lead time for scaling.”
The approval sequence being taken by European aviation regulators would appear to contrast with that recently seen in China. Last October, EHang received a type certificate for its two-seat EH216-S eVTOL aircraft from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, but more than four months later the company is still in the process of securing full series production approval.
In the U.S., Joby Aviation has been manufacturing production-conforming prototypes of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft since June 2023. In February, Joby announced it has completed the third of five stages required for the FAA type certification process it aims to complete by the end of this year.
