Paris wants to be an early adopter of urban air mobility services. The city has launched a call for expressions of interest to provide eVTOL aircraft, infrastructure, support and airspace management systems.

The city is establishing an urban air mobility test area at Pontoise airport, which is 22 miles northwest of Paris. An aircraft boarding area and electric recharging stations will be constructed.

A target has been set to launch services by the start of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Airports group ADP and the regional Paris rail network RATP are part of the effort to develop air mobility services.

A series of tests for parking, take-off, landing, maintenance and recharging are planned to begin in June 2021.

German eVTOL specialist Volocopter has become the first company to express an interest in the Paris scheme. The company said that its VoloCity aircraft would be ready for operations in “two or three years”.