The UK is doing its part to ensure that air taxis are no longer just a dream.
Earlier this week, the British government granted Hyundai and Urban Air Port approval to build the world’s first eVTOL hub. Scheduled to launch later this year, the facility will not only function as a port for eVTOL vessels and autonomous delivery drones, but will also demonstrate the full potential of sustainable urban air mobility in the UK and beyond.
Although the development of eVTOL has come a long way in the past decade, there is still no real infrastructure for aircraft. But thanks to a £ 1.2 million (about $ 1.65 million) grant from the UK Research and Innovation’s Future Flight Challenge, Hyundai and Urban Air Port will now move forward with plans to build a temporary downtown airport from the city of Coventry, in central England. According to Reuters, starting in November this year, the Air-One hub will feature live demonstrations designed to show how eVTOLs can be used for passenger transport, autonomous logistics and disaster emergency management.
The facility will also take up less space and use less resources than a traditional helipad or airport, according to a press release. As there is no clue, Hyundai says its physical footprint will be 60% smaller. It will also emit zero carbon emissions and can also be operated completely off-grid, if necessary.
Urban Air Port welcomed the UK decision, saying that it brings the mobility of clean urban air closer to becoming a reality. “Cars need roads. Trains need rails. Planes need airports. eVTOLs will need Urban Air Ports. More than 100 years ago, the world’s first commercial flight took off, creating the modern connected world, ”said founder Ricky Sandhu in a statement. “Urban Air Port will improve connectivity in our cities, increase productivity and help the UK take the lead in a new, clean global economy.”
Urban Air Port sees the Coventry hub as just the beginning of a much bigger and more ambitious project. The company says it expects to develop another 200 eVTOL port locations in the next five years, both in the UK and abroad. The era of air taxi is about to begin.