German electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer Volocopter has gained approval to start serial production of its air-taxi, VoloCity.
On February 29, 2024, Volocopter announced that it had received the German Federal Aviation Office’s (Luftfahrtbundesamt or LBA) Production Organization Approval (POA) extension that will allow production of its eVTOL aircraft to begin.
Volocopter acquired the initial POA in 2021 through the acquisition of DG Flugzeugbau, and the approval has now been extended to cover VoloCityv.
This POA extension is an industry-first, which specifically lists the approved production of an eVTOL in the POA’s scope of work, from prototyping to serial manufacturing.
“In layperson’s terms, Volocopter now has the full trust and authority to design and produce the VoloCity in-house autonomously and has entered the pre-serial production stage of manufacturing,” the eVTOL developer said.
This POA extension applies to the two new Volocopter production and hangar facilities in Bruchsal, Germany, that were first unveiled in April 2023.
Volocopter is the world’s first and thus far only eVTOL company to hold both Design Organization Approval (DOA) and POA.
Andreas Fehring, Chief Operating Officer of Volocopter, said: “This is a major milestone for us. Aircraft design and production are strongly regulated for a good reason: to produce safe mobility products. I am pleased that Volocopter’s production facility has the trust of and stamp of approval from LBA to manufacture commercial aircraft that can be delivered to customers once the VoloCity receives type certification.”
Fehring added: “Our team has proven that we can produce safe and high-quality test aircraft, and we now look forward to shortening our production lead time for scaling.”
On March 1, 2024, Volocopter also announced that it had become an Approved Training Organization (ATO) through its subsidiary, Volocopter Air Services.
This certification from the LBA allows Volocopter to deliver training towards pilot licenses for its future products.