Volocopter and Grab to study the feasibility of deploying air taxi services in Southeast Asia

Air mobility startup Volocopter will be working together with on-demand transportation, food delivery and payments company Grab on a feasibility study around air mobility in Southeast Asia. The joint study is part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two companies that covers exploration of the potential deployment of air taxi services in some of the cities in the region.

This is the first step in a partnership that could eventually result in actually running test flights and establishing routes for air taxi service deployment, though how far things go will likely depend on the results of this study and the subsequent appetites of both parties involved.

Volocopter, a German startup that has been building and demonstrating vertical takeoff and landing craft powered by electricity since 2011, has already demonstrated its aircraft in Singapore, working with local Singapore aviation regulators. It also unveiled a "world first" full-scale air taxi "VoloPort" last October in the city, working with partner Skyport to develop a commercially scalable model for these urban air taxi stations.

Grab seems to see Volocopter and its aerial taxi services as another potential piece of the overall puzzle that it's putting together across various transportation methods. "This partnership will enable Volocopter to further develop urban air mobility solutions that are relevant for Southeast Asian commuters so they can decide on their preferred journey option based on their budgets, time constraints and other needs, in a seamless way," said Grab Ventures CEO Chris Yeo in an emailed press release.

Volocopter has said Singapore could be one of the best contenders for commercial service launch and opened offices in the region last year. Other potential commercial launch markets include Dubai and Germany, the company has said previously.