photo: © Urban-Air Port
The ‘vertiport’ sites will provide essential infrastructure to transform the way people and goods are transported in city centres
The urban air mobility market is on the up, with forecasts predicting it could reach US$1 trillion in the next 20 years. From flying taxis to delivery drones, emerging technologies have the potential to transform how people and goods move around cities, by-passing congested road transport systems by - literally - rising above them.
To date, most of the investment has gone into the development of the vehicles themselves. For example, at Springwise, we have spotted a drone taxi system in China, and an autonomous cargo helicopter. But a lack of ground infrastructure remains a limitation on the mass roll-out of these vehicles (known as ‘eVTOLs’).
To fill this infrastructure gap, UK-based Urban-Air Port intends to build 200 advanced air transport hubs—called ‘vertiports’—around the world. These vertiports will be ultra-compact and rapidly deployable, hosting both manned and un-manned craft. The first vertiport, which will be in Coventry City Centre in the UK, is expected to open for operations in April 2022.
Urban-Air Port recently secured significant investment from eVTOL manufacturer Supernal. The funding is a significant landmark, as it is the first time a major eVTOL company has invested in a ground infrastructure startup. Until now, just three per cent of air mobility investment has gone into such infrastructure.
“Cars need roads. Trains need rails. Planes need airports. eVTOLs need Urban-Air Ports,” explains Ricky Sandhu, Founder and Executive Chairman of Urban-Air Port. “Despite the unparalleled potential of eVTOL aircraft to revolutionise mobility, the importance of the ground infrastructure that enables them is too often overlooked.”
Urban-Air Port is not the only company Springwise has spotted building air mobility infrastructure. Air taxi company Lilium is also developing designs for a series of modular vertiports.