The Software Platform to enable large scale Urban Air Mobility
Bruchsal/Norderstedt, 28 October 2020 – Volocopter, the pioneer in Urban Air Mobility (UAM), announced today a cooperation with Lufthansa Industry Solutions. Together they are building Volocopter’s proprietary intelligent and integrated “Urban Air Mobility Software Platform” that will run on Microsoft Azure: VoloIQ. It offers complete digital visibility of the complex UAM ecosystem in real-time.
Using artificial intelligence, VoloIQ will enable amongst others:
- Global scale air taxi operations
- Seamless customer service (such as simple booking) and integration with smart cities, existing mobility providers, and new services
- Increase safety and efficiency, decrease costs, and ensure a reliable and smooth user experience off- and online
- Optimized aircraft utilization and an increased lifetime for individual components
Urban Air Mobility connects the complete ecosystem of city authorities, existing mobility options e.g. public transportation and ride hailing, flight and ground operations, as well as customer facing services. VoloIQ will process information of all participating components in the ecosystem and make them and their interdependencies digitally visible at all times.
“VoloIQ is the digital backbone for enabling the whole Volocopter Urban Air Mobility Services ecosystem and serves as the brain for our air taxi services. Using big data, it will continuously improve efficiency and have a significant positive impact on our customer service quality,” says Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. “We selected Lufthansa Industry Solutions because of their leading know-how in certified aviation processes and large-scale aircraft operations. I am very much looking forward to the exciting outcomes of this cooperation.”
Volocopter leads the way in demonstrating Urban Air Mobility and is currently working on the certification for its fourth-generation aircraft: VoloCity. Lufthansa Industry Solutions is an expert in digitalization solutions with extensive experience within the aviation industry and beyond. They will bring Urban Air Mobility Services to a new level of digitalization. Microsoft Azure will provide the infrastructure.
“Digital platforms and integrated solutions are the key to scale operations globally. They allow a seamless connection between existing ecosystems and new services,” says Bernd Appel, Managing Director of Lufthansa Industry Solutions. “We look forward to being part in this newest sector of aviation. With our vast knowledge and experience we will build a unique solution for Volocopter, bringing to life the VoloIQ.”
“We are pleased to help make Urban Air Mobility Services safer and more efficient by providing Azure to enable VoloIQ,” said Heiko Huettel, Head of Automotive EMEA at Microsoft Corp. “They will offer changes for air taxis businesses and customers alike, offering smoother and more seamless service.”
Until commercial operations of VoloCity air taxis start, VoloIQ will play an integral part in flight testing and building up test operation facilities.
Main Photo: Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter and Bernd Appel, Managing Director of Lufthansa Industry Solutions
© Volocopter
