German eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter this week moved into a new phase of insolvency proceedings, giving a court-appointed administrator another three months to secure its future. On March 1, almost all of the company’s 500 staff were placed on paid gardening leave to comply with the requirements of Germany’s insolvency laws.

Since December 26, when Volocopter first filed for insolvency with a court in Karlsruhe, the company has been in a pre-insolvency program that expired on February 28. Court-appointed attorney Tobias Wahl has been seeking fresh investment to support efforts to certify its two-seat VoloCity eVTOL model. According to a source close to the process, he is in discussions with prospective new owners.

If no deal can be closed by the end of May, it is likely the company will close with the loss of all jobs. This would follow the same process that saw another German eVTOL developer, Lilium, shut down on February 21.

On February 18, French charter operator Jet Systems Hélicoptères Services signed an agreement to buy two VoloCity aircraft. With Volocopter, it said it intended to launch an air taxi service network starting in the Paris area with flights of up to 20 nm.

As recently as December, Volocopter reported that it was increasing the frequency of flight testing with a VoloCity prototype and that it remained confident of completing EASA type certification in 2025. It had previously aimed to bring the aircraft to market in 2024 but had to overcome some challenges, including a requirement to introduce new rotors as part of changes to the propulsion system.