INFO EUROPE 1
It is one of the jokers of Île-de-France to ensure the fluidity of transport during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Flying taxis – helicopter drones ready to fly the air routes – are getting closer and closer: the winners of the call for expression of interest have indeed been announced. Europe 1 exclusively reveals the economic players who will work on this project, initiated by the ADP group, the RATP group and Choose Paris Region.
Airbus and Safran to build the vehicles
The companies called upon must meet all the logistical needs of flying taxis, which it was necessary to define. First of all, vehicles are needed: Airbus and Safran will be in the process of creating these devices, hand in hand with a Chinese manufacturer or the developer of a hydrogen system from Singapore. Dassault Falcon Services and Air France have also been selected to pilot and manage aircraft maintenance.
Another project: the reception and recharging infrastructure for these taxis. A Swiss company was chosen to carry them out. When taxis travel by air, the anti-collision systems developed by Thalès will also be used.
Acceptability, a key issue
Finally, it will be essential to judge the acceptability of such devices for residents: can these taxis be a nuisance? The Ecole Polytechnique, the American university research center of Berkeley and Bruitparif, the noise observatory in Île-de-France, will be responsible for answering this question.
The experiments will begin in July at Cormeilles-en-Vexin aerodrome, in Val-d’Oise. It already has runways and civil aviation services. “Vertiports”, that is to say places of embarkation from which the taxi takes off vertically, will be set up throughout the Ile-de-France to begin the networking of the territory for this network of taxis. The ultimate goal is to offer a sustainable service that survive the Olympics.
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