Volocopter, the urban air mobility (UAM) developer, has received both Design Organisation Approval (DOA) and Production Organisation Approval (POA) in compliance with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA Part 21G).
The accolades are gained as the company acquires its long-standing partner in innovation and production, DG Flugzeugbau, a composite aircraft producer. Through the acquisition, Volocopter is now the first and only electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company holding both the required design and production organization approvals to advance its aircraft toward commercial launch.
“Our ten-year partnership with DG Flugzeugbau has been an extraordinary learning experience. Having this legendary industry leader on our side to kick-start scalable and affordable UAM for people and cargo has been a game-changer”, said Florian Reuter, CEO, Volocopter.
“Today marks an exciting milestone as we unify DG Flugzeugbau’s leadership in aviation production with Volocopter’s pioneering UAM goals to establish yet another crucial stepping-stone for our collective global endeavours”.
In 2019, Volocopter was the first and remains the only eVTOL company to attain DOA from EASA (EASA Part 21J). Through its compliance with both EASA Part 21G and Part 21J, Volocopter is poised to have the first commercial aircraft to market once the company completes type certification and obtains the air operator approval in compliance with EASA.
EASA is the regulator with the highest safety standards for aircraft certification, in the case of SC-VTOL requiring the same safety level as expected from commercial airliners. Volocopter states that its certification with EASA is “easily transferable across global markets, positioning it to launch services across Europe, Asia, and North America”.
The announcement follows a recent showing at the Paris Air Forum, where the company flew its Volocopter 2X eVTOL in what was the first public flight demonstration of an electrically powered air taxi in France.
As part of the acquisition agreement, Volocopter will integrate DG Flugzeugbau’s aircraft production segment and EASA Part 21G POA. The entire team of manufacturing experts will join Volocopter’s production and workshop teams. Another part of the acquisition agreement is to continue to honour existing sailplane production contracts, under the new ownership.
DG Flugzeugbau is renowned for its excellence in the production and development of glider aircraft, composite aircraft manufacturing, and the tuning of World-Championship-winning Red Bull Air-Race planes. They have held production certification for over 40 years, operating its production facilities from Bruchsal, Germany, near Volocopter’s headquarters.
Together with DG Flugzeugbau, Volocopter designed and built the VC200, the first electrically powered multi-copter to receive a permit to fly it in 2016 and flew this model autonomously in Dubai in 2017 and on stage at the 2018 CES in Las Vegas. Since then, the two companies have partnered to produce the Volocopter 2X, the VoloDrone, and the VoloCity.
The remaining part of the former DG Flugzeugbau is being transitioned into the newly founded DG Aviation. With their Maintenance Organisation Part CAO and their Design Organisation Part-21J, they will continue developing and maintaining aircraft and will support DG and LS gliders.
You can find more information about Volocopter and its design and production approval on its website.
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