Velocopter and Grab join hands to investigate the feasibility of flight taxis in Southeast Asia

Volocopter is investigating the feasibility of finding the best city and route for flight taxi operations in Southeast Asia. The survey was conducted by Grab, an on-demand dispatcher, to investigate the potential of the flight taxi service, and it is part of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies.

Velocopter said at CES 2018 that it would like to start flying taxi services in the next five years, so by 2023. Until now, flight tests have been conducted in Dubai, Helsinki, Las Vegas, and Stuttgart, and in Helsinki, flight control system linkage tests have also been conducted.

Velocopter is already conducting demonstration experiments in cooperation with CAAS of the Singapore Civil Aviation Administration. In addition, it has received certification from the European Aviation Safety Organization EASA’s aircraft design agency, and is preparing for the commercial flight start permit.

Velocopter seems to be considering linking the Velocopter with the Grab App, which is integrated in various transportation modes in cooperation with Grab. Grab Ventures CEO Chris Yeo said that the alliance will enable Velocopter to develop aerial mobility solutions, including commuting in Southeast Asia, and consumers will be able to smoothly make decisions about travel options as needed outside of budget and time constraints. Velocopter also gave meaning that this cooperation will eventually provide the possibility of extending Intermodal mobility to the sky. Related information can be found here .