Ile-de-France Region launch first trials dedicated to new urban air mobility
Paris Region through Choose Paris Region, Groupe ADP and RATP Group inaugurated the test centre dedicated to new sustainable urban air mobility at the Pontoise – Cormeilles-en-Vexin airfield, in the presence of French Minister of Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
The inauguration signals the launch of the first trials in real conditions for eVTOLs – electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft – and all the elements that will eventually enable them to be use. Now a reality in carbon-free aviation, these flying machines offer a multitude of possibilities for the transportation of people and goods, as mobility needs keep increasing.
The main challenges for the development of this new technology regard acceptability, safety and qualification of uses. Thanks to the tests planned by numerous manufacturers over the coming months in Pontoise, the partners, along with the DGAC (French civil aviation authorities), will study different scenarios for pre-commercial services for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games based on two lines: the first between the Paris-Issy-les-Moulineaux heliport and the Saint-Cyr airfield; the second between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports and Paris city, on a site to be determined..
In September 2020, the structuring of a branch in the Île-de-France region around new urban air mobility (UAM) was initiated through the launch of a call for expressions of interest. Approximately thirty manufacturers were selected to carry out tests on the following components: modelling and noise measurements, flight phases and integration into airspace, maintenance and recharging operations, passenger routes.
To carry out these tests in the best possible conditions, Groupe ADP has achieved a series of development works at the Pontoise airfield: a landing and take-off area, taxiways, parking stands, warehouse planning…
