Wanfeng buys Volocopter: Does the flight taxi fly back to bankruptcy?

Wanfeng buys Volocopter: Does the flight taxi fly back to bankruptcy?

Bruchsal, Deutschland - A sensational step in the aviation industry: The Chinese company Wanfeng has announced that it will take over the insolvent German flight taxi manufacturer Volocopter for 10 million euros. This deal, as mentioned in a stock exchange from Wanfeng at the conclusion of the contract, is handled by a newly founded subsidiary based in Berlin, which belongs 100 percent to the Austrian aircraft manufacturer Diamond Aircraft. So far, a spokeswoman for Volocopter has not commented on the details of the sale, which was necessary to save the flight taxi manufacturer after a difficult financial crisis. Volocopter got into bankruptcy on Christmas 2024, and the bankruptcy proceedings were officially opened in early March. Around 450 employees are affected by this situation and were released with immediate effect, as both the Krone as well as br reported.

The bankruptcy registration presents the once promising start-up before a crucial turn. Although Volocopter had started with actually revolutionary, fully electric aircraft on urban air mobility, the necessary sample approval from the European Air Safety Agency has so far been missing in order to promote passengers. Analysts show that the hopes for a flourishing flight taxi industry were steamed by financial difficulties and missing investors. Other companies in this industry, such as Lilium, who also had to register bankruptcy, are under pressure. Despite the acquisition of investors, despite last year's capital procurement of investors, the financing rounds have proven to be inadequate in order to maintain a stable operation in the long term.

future uncertain

The prospects for the employees and the business model remain unsafe. Little has remained of the original dream of air mobility, especially after state support has failed to materialize. Although Volocopter had started working with the ADAC air rescue to test emergency services, current reports show that modern aircraft could not bring the hoped-for benefits in terms of travel time and CO2 emissions. The entire industry is under pressure to find new solutions, while the real challenges of air mobility continue to exist.

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OrtBruchsal, Deutschland
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