The world’s first ‘vertiport’ for flying taxis just opened in the UK
Critical infrastructure is needed to bring flying taxis to the masses
Vertiport infrastructure is lagging
This week also came with the news of vertiport investment. This is great news, as in 2021,only 3% of air mobility investment(a mere $150m) was dedicated to the physical infrastructure necessary for commercial VTOLs.
Urban-Air Port secured investment from Supernal. The funding will help support Urban-Air Port’s plan to construct 200 vertiports around the world in the next five years. The company alsowon a 2021 $1.5M grant from the UK government as part of its push for green aviation.It’s additionally funded byM7 Real Estate.
So, how are we going to depart and disembark?
While Urban-Air Port has created a dedicated aircraft space in Conventry, its not the only approach.
There are two different approaches to vertiports:
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Adapting infrastructures such as airports, heliports, and parking garage roofs.
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Building dedicated spaces such as Air-One.
In June last year, Joby Aviationannounced an agreement with REEF and Neighborhood Property Group(NPG) to allow Joby to access REEF’s existing network of parking garages in key cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco.
The company has a large network of over 4,800 parking garages, covering 70% of North America’s urban population. Archer Aviation has struck a similar deal with REEF.
With theM7 Real Estateinvestment, it’s foreseeable that Urban-Air Port is also imagining vertiports on top of buildings.
The challenges of creating aircraft vertiport
Urban-Air Port has achieved an impressive pop-up vertiport in what is basically a car park. It is unclear whether the fixture is to remain permanently and whether it complies with local There is a range of logistical and safety issues. These include:
Numbers:How many aircraft fit into the vertiport approach and take-off area (FATO)? Most companies are aiming for a large fleet that departs with mere minutes between take-offs and landings. This requires a lot of parking bays for aircraft and a place for eVTOL aircraft to recharge.
Safety:How will passengers embark and disembark safely? For example, undercurrent UK Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) regulations, helicopters currently need to be 60 meters apart because of downwash and rotor/engine hazards. This will be an even bigger challenge for large numbers of eVTOL aircraft.
Passenger processing:Also tied into safety is passenger processing. Uber Elevate proposes a turnaround time of five minutes in between departing passengers and the next vertiport take-off. It is logistically questionable. Think about the time it takes to get off a plane, get on a bus, and arrive at the terminal, for instance.
Security:What type of screening will take place before passengers board?
Battery charging times:Aircraft need somewhere to recharge at the vertiport. Modes have different recharging needs and could take anything from 20 minutes to one hour. Currently, there’s no interoperability between batteries used by different VTOL aircraft.
Standardization:Different kinds of VTOLs are in different sizes and configurations. This makes vertiport standardization impossible.
Additionally, Vertiports need to comply withminimum requirements, which are still in development between theUKFAA, aircraft manufacturers, and other industry stakeholders.
VTOLsare coming, but they’ll only be able to take flight with the right infrastructure. Until vertiports roll out globally, VTOL wings and rotors are clipped.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart ci(show all)Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart cities, and the future of alternative energy sources like electric batteries, solar, and hydrogen.
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