Skyports-Groupe ADP air taxi vertiport opens for Paris trial phase

A group of companies that includes Volocopter, Skyports, and airport operator Groupe ADP have inaugurated what they say is Europe’s first fully integrated vertiport, created for testing all aspects of air taxi operation expected to be introduced during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

The testbed facility was opened Thursday at a dedicated site in the Paris suburb of Pontoise. The vertiport features a 115-square-meter terminal built by Skyports and Groupe ADP to trial all stages of passenger arrival, checking, boarding, and takeoff, and was christened with a demonstration flight of a Volocopter air taxi prototype. The occasion also allowed participants – which include an expanding roster of sector businesses, as well as French administrative and government agencies – to reveal the first fixed flight paths that will be operated.

The event was the fruit of 12 months of work preparing the facility, which will also draw from insights gained during…