Chinese company to buy bankrupt German flying taxi firm

BERLIN, March 13 (AFP): Insolvent German flying taxi firm Volocopter is to be bought by a Chinese vehicle parts maker, just weeks after another German company in the field, Lilium, collapsed.

The Chinese firm, Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co., put the price tag of the transaction at 10 million euros ($10.9 million), while Volocopter's assets were given a book value of around 42 million euros.

Founded in 2011, Volocopter filed for insolvency in December.

It had wanted to bring its two-seater flying electric taxi "Volocity" to market by 2025 but suffered a setback when it had to cancel test flights at last year's Paris Olympics.

The European Union's Aviation Safety Agency did not certify the aircraft's engine in time for the planned tests.

In a statement earlier this week, Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel said it would acquire the German company's assets and intellectual property rights, and assume contract rights and obligations under the name of Volocopter GmbH.