Volocopter has reached a landmark milestone in certification receiving the German Federal Aviation Office’s (Luftfahrtbundesamt or LBA) Production Organisation Approval (POA) extension.
The extension allows the production of the VoloCity aircraft. 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 said to be the world’s first and only eVTOL company to hold both Design Organisation Approval (DOA) and POA. Volocopter received EASA’s DOA in 2019, followed by the initial POA in 2021 with the acquisition of DG Flugzeugbau.
This POA extension is industry-first, which lists specifically the approved production of an eVTOL in the POA’s scope of work, from prototyping to serial manufacturing. According to Volocopter, the company 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.
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. 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.”
Under EASA’s SC-VTOL (Special Condition VTOL) Enhanced certification category, the VoloCity will become the first commercial eVTOL with the highest global safety standards in aviation. Achieving this safety standard allows VoloCity to fly above congested urban areas quietly and efficiently, adding an extra layer of alternative mobility to the transportation mix in cities.
