Work to assess how new eVTOL aircraft can safely integrate with other traffic in existing public airspace accelerated this week with further flight trials at Pontoise near Paris. Volocopter operated its remotely-piloted 2X eVTOL technology demonstrator in tests alongside Pipistrel’s piloted electric-powered Velis Electro light aircraft to evaluate how air traffic management technology and processes can be optimized in the lower airspace prospective eVTOL operators expect to start using for commercial flights starting in 2024. The tests also involved a Boreal UAS drone provided by M3 Systems.

The week-long flight trials, which ended on September 23, simulated three different avoidance maneuvers in situations where unplanned incidents can disrupt flight plans. The first involved the unexpected unavailability of the final approach and takeoff area and a forced diversion due to another aircraft needing to be given priority to land. The companies also tested a flight path diversion due to the closure of an airport or vertiport, and a diversion provoked by two aircraft flying on the same path.

While Pipistrel’s Velis Electro used the existing air traffic management (ATM) system at Pontoise airfield, the Volocopter 2X eVTOL and the Boreal UAS used an uncrewed traffic management (UTM) system. The Velis Electro flew at an altitude of 300 meters (984 feet), while the 2X was at just 30 meters (98 feet).

French airports group ADP and its drone safety software subsidiary Hologarde also participated in the trials, which are part of the wider CORUS-XUAM program (Concept of operations for European UTM systems, extension for urban air mobility), funded by the European Union’s Single European Sky ATM research initiative. Both Slovenia-based Pipistrel, which is now part of Textron’s new eAviation division, and Germany-based Volocopter are among 30 partners involved in a project to be ready to start eVTOL air taxi flights in and around the French capital during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The wider CORUS-XUAM project involves a total of 19 partners and another 11 third parties. The Pontoise exercise is the third in a series of flight trials intended to simulate situations in which UTM and ATM traffic intersect. Organizers say that for the rest of this year the project will continue efforts to “proactively test and create a safe and controlled lower airspace under the Single European Sky initiative."

“As the manufacturer of the only type-certified electric aircraft in commercial service in the world, Pipistrel is proud to take part in technical projects that shape the vision of air mobility and make progress in a meaningful way,” said Pipistrel president and managing director Gabriel Massey. “The CORUS project and Paris demonstrations clearly show how UAM [urban air mobility] vehicles will be able to fly safely in regular airspace post-2030 and will help to unlock new lower-noise and lower-emission air passenger and cargo services.”

In 2019 Volocopter deployed the 2X eVTOL vehicle in flight trials at Finland’s Helsinki airport, where it flew alongside commercial airliner movements for the first time as part of the development process for the European U-Space concept of operations. “Building an efficient ecosystem around UAM is Volocopter’s mission and connecting ATM/UTM integration with our digital platform, VoloIQ, is poised to be an integral part of bringing UAM to megacities worldwide,” said Volocopter’s chief risk and certification officer, Oliver Reinhardt. “I am looking forward to the next CORUS-XUAM test flights later this year in Germany and what we can achieve there.”

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