Urban-Air Port Opens First Vertiport In UK

Urban-Air Port opened its first hub for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Coventry, U.K., on Monday. According to the company, the 1,700-square-meter (about 18,300-square-foot) prefabricated Air-One “vertiport,” which was designed for “rapid” assembly and disassembly, will operate in Coventry for at least a month. While open, it will demonstrate operations such as aircraft command and control, eVTOL charging and cargo loading for unmanned drones along with hosting demonstrator flights with operators including the West Midlands Police, Skyfarer and Malloy Aeronautics.

“From design, through to fabrication and now into operation, Urban-Air Port has delivered Air-One in just 15 months, setting the standard for deployment globally and opening up a world of possibilities for rapid response air mobility,” said Ricky Sandhu, Urban-Air Port founder and executive chairman. “Air-One is just the first model in our infrastructure fleet and our order-book is not only open but already growing.”

Once its program in Coventry is complete, Urban-Air Port says Air-One will be moved to other locations in the U.K. and internationally for further demonstrations. The company noted that its vertiports can be deployed at short notice for operations like transporting emergency supplies in disaster situations and can be run entirely off-grid using on-site hydrogen fuel cells. Urban-Air Port says it plans to use Air-One as a blueprint for more than 200 additional sites, which it intends to open over the next five years in countries including the U.S., Australia, South Korea, France, Germany, Scandinavia and South East Asia.