Green light for testing of air taxis during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (from 26 July to 11 August, and from 28 August to 8 September). The green light has arrived in recent days from the judges of the Conseil d'Etat. The municipal administration of the capital, led by mayor Anne Hidalgo, had appealed to the French Council of State, against the decision of the central government, who had therefore turned to justice to stop the project. 

Last June 12, the French transport minister, Patrice Vergriete, had "authorized an experiment" involving the use of flying taxis over the skies of Paris. A test therefore carried out in the limited time period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For this reason, the Council of State, rejecting Hidalgo's appeal, provisionally authorized the experiment, pending a more in-depth hearing to be held in the autumn. At the moment there is therefore no question of authorization for the commercial use of air taxis in France.

The trial is led by Aéroports de Paris (AdP), the company that manages the capital's airports, the "Charles de Gaulle", Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget. The tests were strongly supported by the airport operator's deputy CEO, Edward Arkwright, who spoke several times in the French media to defend the initiative and explain its details.

But what does the test consist of? At the beginning of July, the Ministry of Transport authorized the AdP company to build a vertiport on a floating barge anchored in the Seine River, located near the Austerlitz train station, opposite the Cité du Design et de la Mode. Volocopter's flying taxis, i.e. electric vertical take-off and landing (eVtol) aircraft that connect the airport to the city centre, depart and arrive from here. Two flights are scheduled every hour from 8:00 to 17:00. The floating platform will cease to operate "at the latest on December 31, 2024", the judges assured.

On the subject, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.