Volocopter pilots air taxi at Helsinki

Volocopter has trialled an air taxi at the Helsinki International Airport in Finland, integrating into the air traffic management (ATM) and unmanned aircraft traffic management (UTM) system. Within the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Programme, this demonstration is the final part of the Gulf of Finland (GOF) U-Space project showing how ATM and UTM systems enable urban air mobility (UAM). Maria Tamm, project coordinator from Estonian Air Navigation Services, says rules for using very low-level ai
September 5, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

8772 Volocopter has trialled an air taxi at the Helsinki International Airport in Finland, integrating into the air traffic management (ATM) and unmanned aircraft traffic management (UTM) system.

Within the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Programme, this demonstration is the final part of the Gulf of Finland (GOF) U-Space project showing how ATM and UTM systems enable urban air mobility (UAM).

Maria Tamm, project coordinator from Estonian Air Navigation Services, says rules for using very low-level airspace needs updating as air traffic continues to rise with the arrival of unmanned aircrafts and air taxis.

“This is where SESAR comes into place and particularly the GOF U-space project for the integration of UTM into the ATM systems or connecting the uncontrolled and controlled airspace,” she continues. “The demonstration at Helsinki airport showed that various systems are ready to safely and efficiently manage air taxi operations, their related services and subsequent interaction within existing aviation and airspace activities.”

Volocopter performed a series of tests with UTM service providers AirMap, Altitude Angel and Unifly. The company also integrated software and hardware to perform different test scenarios including ground tests, unmanned and piloted flights.

Jan-Hendrik Boelens, chief technology officer of Volocopter, says: “We will build our first VoloPort infrastructure before the year is out and with the GOF U-Space demonstration we have now shown that the existing UTM technologies are viable for UAM.”

Related Content

  • May 29, 2013
    Europe’s EasyWay project accommodates political requirements
    The EasyWay project has evolved to take account of political developments at the European level. By Jason Barnes The European Union’s (EU’s) EasyWay ITS deployment project has its roots in the ambitions of former European Commission President Jacques Delors with regard to truly international networks for energy, information and for transport. Definition of what became known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) began back in 1994 with seven working groups. They produced an R&D and policy framework
    Read More
  • December 6, 2017
    Mexico City seeks solutions to improve air quality
    David Crawford ponders prospects for one of the world’s most congested and polluted cities. In 1992, the United Nations named Mexico City as the world’s most polluted urban centre. In the first half of 2016, following the updating of pollution alert limits to meet international standards, Mexico recorded 115 days where ozone concentrations exceeded the acute exposure health limit.
    Read More
  • January 11, 2022
    Michigan forms air mobility corridor 
    Partners will explore whether drones can be used in delivery and medical transport 
    Read More
  • November 7, 2013
    Smart Spanish city trials cell-based traffic management
    David Crawford reports on an urban electronic nervous system. The northern Spanish city of Santander – historically a port - is now an emerging technology showcase attracting global attention as a prototype for a medium-sized smart city of the future. In a move to determine the optimal use of available data, it is creating a de-facto experimental laboratory for sensor and mobile phone-based urban traffic management and environmental monitoring innovations.
    Read More

Highlighted Content