German urban air mobility firm Volocopter will launch air taxi services in Singapore within the next three years. Volocopter has been working on development the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) for the past two years. The move is likely to make Singapore the first city to launch urban air mobility in Asia.

In October 2019, Volocopter completed an air taxi demonstration flight in the centre of Singapore over the Marina Bay area, giving observers a vision of what UAM will look like.

Before launching the services in Singapore, Volocopter will obtain regulatory approvals, including from CAAS and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

The first route is expected to be for tourists over the southern waters, offering views of the Marina Bay skyline. Follow-on connections may include cross-border flights linking economic centres closest to Singapore.

“Singapore is renowned for its leading role in adapting and living new technologies. Our successful cooperation with EDB, MOT, and CAAS on our previous flight has shown that there is no better place in Asia to launch our electric air taxi services than in Singapore,” said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. “The city’s research institutes conducting R&D play an integral part in this. Topics like route validation for autonomous operations, material science, and research regarding battery technology are very important for our long-term business success.”

“Urban Air Mobility is an emerging area within the broader mobility sector, which we have identified as a growth industry for Singapore,” said Mr. Tan Kong Hwee, Executive Vice President, EDB. “Singapore is an important regional test bed for autonomous cars, electric vehicles, and Urban Air Mobility, including the successful test flight by Volocopter in 2019. We are glad that Volocopter has chosen Singapore to anchor its commercial and R&D activities. This will help build new capabilities for our mobility ecosystem and create many exciting opportunities for Singapore.”

“In this new area of Urban Air Mobility, we look forward to continue working with Volocopter. This gives us the opportunity to co-create regulations and technologies with the industry, facilitating innovation to enable a future mode of transportation for Singapore,” said Mr. Tan Kah Han, Senior Director (Unmanned Systems Group) of CAAS.