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TheTFX.com
where there is no vision , the people perish
TheTFX.com
Five Rivers Aviation has entered into agreements with several eVTOL companies to establish operations at California's Livermore Airport.
Battery-electric air taxis could service trips of up to 150 miles, while air taxis powered by hydrogen fuel cells would make longer trips possible.
"That would be a perfect solution to Palm Springs, Truckee Vegas, Southern California, Seattle, even as far as Denver," said Pete Sandhu, owner of Five Rivers Aviation.
The FAA has released updated guidelines on vertiport design.
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Archer Aviation and United Airlines have announced their first airport-to-city-center route for air taxis (eVTOLs).
Electric air taxis will shuttle travelers between Downtown Manhattan and Newark Liberty International Airport.
The estimated car travel time from Downtown Manhattan to Newark Airport can be an hour due to traffic. With the new air taxi, Archer says the same trip will take less than 10 minutes.
Archer plans to launch an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) network across the New York Metropolitan Area.
Two vertiports in central Milan, a vertiport at Milan Linate Airport, and another at Milan Malpensa Airport, will soon make it possible to land at a local international airport then take an air taxi direct to downtown Milan.
An air taxi ride between downtown Milan and Milan Malpensa Airport is projected to cost around $130 USD (€120), falling to $75–$85 USD (€70–80) once larger eVTOL aircraft become available.
A new company will take care of the design, construction and management of the vertiports, said the CEO of SEA Milan Airports, Armando Brunini. Other vertiports could be sited in Italy's provincial capitals and at Lake Como.
SAVE Group which manages Venice Airport is partnering with Chioggia to construct a vertiport in the smaller city, population 50,000 – enabling air taxis to whisk travelers between Venice Airport and Chioggia in 15 minutes.
For its part, Venice Airport will accommodate two vertiports able to handle a combined 340,000 passengers a year: the first in the landside area to connect the North East of Italy, the second in the airside area.
SAVE Group participates in the UrbanV company with Rome Airports, Bologna Airport and Côte d'Azur Airports. UrbanV will create a masterplan to include the design of the Venice region vertiports, and analysis of the air taxi routes between Venice Airport and Chioggia.
Ultimately, more than a dozen vertiports will connect the entire North-East of Italy: reaching as far as the territories of Cortina, Brescia and Bologna.
Vertiports are a neighborhood place for vertical takeoff. Advanced Air Mobility is founded on the principles of inclusivity and accessibility. To achieve this, vertiports must be built in every single community.
AAM has the potential to save lives, fight fires, expedite emergency medicine, bridge social divides, preserve the environment, promote human rights, grow local economies, and inspire students to excel in STEM to become the workforce of the future.
Signing this petition will build momentum to make vertiport Word of the Year for 2023 and help co-create a brighter path forward.
Tuscan Airports, the management company for Florence and Pisa airports in Italy, says it is making provisions for short-haul flights to be made by eVTOLs.
"Everyone is working to insert a provision of vertiports inside airports, and therefore we too have done it," said Tuscan Airports CEO Roberto Naldi.
He added that Embraer have chosen Tuscany to carry out eVTOL trials.
"I am thinking of short flights from Pisa to Versilia, or from Pisa to the island of Elba."
NextNorth is to offer air taxi routes in the Spanish Balearics — Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera — with the capacity to transport 5 people on inter-island and intra-island trips.
NextNorth has been able to bring prototypes to reality thanks to the success of its tests at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The company will require authorization from the European Union Agency for Aviation Safety (EASA), which it expects to achieve in 2024.
Bologna Airport has commissioned UrbanV to conduct a feasibility study into the development of a regional air taxi network extending from a vertiport at Bologna Airport.
The new infrastructure for eVTOLs will increase the potential of Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna region in terms of accessibility, intermodality, and road traffic safety.
Corporación América Airports (CAAP) and Skyports have teamed up to develop a network of vertiports across Latin America.
CAAP operates numerous airports in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador, and the partners will determine which are best suited for air taxis and the requisite infrastructure.
Skyports will build vertiports at the selected sites.
CAAP-operated airports include Brasília International Airport; Montevideo Carrasco International Airport; Guayaqil International Airport; and Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport.
Underserved regions will gain new transportation options when air taxis are rolled out, according to Electra's Diana Siegel.
"When thinking of AAM, folks have in mind that it will require 20 vertiports per city and a ton of new infrastructure," she said. "At the end of the day, I think it will be more tractable and manageable. Even four [vertiports] per town will offer a lot of value in connecting people and communities."
A new project for e-VTOL passenger transport infrastructure is coming to metro Lisbon.
Magellan 500 has forged an agreement with Oeiras City Hall to install vertiports in the capital's coastal suburb.
The project also anticipates a new airport northeast of Lisbon. The vertiports in Oeiras will provide fast access between Oeiras and that region.
These vertiports will later operate in a network with others that will be established elsewhere in Portugal.
"We chose to design an alternative to the ferry route from Bainbridge Island to Seattle," said LYTE Aviation founder and CEO Freshta Farzam.
"Soon, after a long day of work, the daily commute of around [25 miles] will take only 10 minutes instead of 90 minutes.
"The SkyBus can take off from a landing pad, aka vertiport, at the Microsoft campus and land at a vertiport pad on the island."
Skyports has been securing sites for vertiports in the United Kingdom by partnering with developers, including Bicester Motion in Oxfordshire and Related Argent’s Brent Cross Town in north London.
Skyports expects an initial commercial vertiports network offering city-to-city and city-to-airport connections to be established in the UK by 2026.
“There will eventually be 20 to 30 in the UK."
A likely initial price of around ($250–$370) per passenger journey "to compete with a first-class train ticket or a chauffeur driven car," will become more affordable as technology improves and the industry expands.
What do you look for in an ideal vertiport site?
"An obvious one is demand ... Is there enough space to have a vertiport with sufficient throughput that can land, charge, process passengers, with enough volume that ultimately the business case closes?
"We’re designing in the potential growth of the system ..."
Addison Ferrell, Director of Skyports Infrastructure
AIRTAXI 2023 attendees will include:
- Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
- Skyports
- San Francisco International Airport
- Rolls Royce
- Cincinnati International Airport
- Volocopter
- Edmonton International Airport
- EHang
- Munich Airport
- AECOM
- Aeroporti di Roma
- United Airlines
- Paris Economic Development Agency
- SKYTRAC
- Abu Dhabi International Airport
- , and many more
Projects to bring Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to Italy are well underway, with vertiports under construction in Rome, Milan, and Bologna.
Last October saw the first test flight take off from Rome Fiumicino vertiport.
New vertiports at Milan and Bologna, as well as Chioggia in the Venice region, are set to begin operations next year.
In Dubai, VPorts plans to inaugurate a vertiport which will also include the world's first AAM integrator center.
This means it will include flight test airspace specifically dedicated to eVTOLs on their way to certification.
The center will occupy some 400,000 square feet in Dubai South.
Skyports and Joby Aviation also have plans for Dubai. They plan a network of four main vertiports located in strategic areas – Dubai International Airport, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown, and Dubai Marina.
Rome's Fiumicino airport unveiled plans to make flying taxis a reality in 2024 with the city's first test flight of the VoloCity craft.
The venture is a collaboration between Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) and Mundys SpA (formerly Atlantia SpA) with German urban air mobility company Volocopter.
The electric air taxi will take passengers into the center of Rome in 20 minutes and will connect Fiumicino to the city via a series of vertiports.
Eve Air Mobility and United Airlines have partnered to bring the first electric commuter flights to San Francisco. The companies will work with local authorities and providers.
Eve recently signed a letter of intent with Ferrovial Vertiports and is backed by Embraer.
“The Bay Area is perfect for eVTOL flights given its size, traffic, focus on sustainability, innovation and commitment to add options for mobility,” said Eve co-CEO Andre Stein.
VTOL | A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. One type of VTOL is an Air Taxi. Another is the helicopter. |
eVTOL or, e-VTOL | The term eVTOL is often used interchangeably with VTOL; however, eVTOL is more specific. eVTOL refers to the variety of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft that uses electric power. Many eVTOL's concept are for Air Taxi application. |
AAM Advanced Air Mobility | Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses urban, suburban and rural transportation using Aerial Vehicles. The term AAM is often used interchangeably with Urban Air Mobility (UAM); however, AAM is inclusive of the rural counterparts whereas the latter focuses on urban connectivity. |
UAM Urban Air Mobility | Urban Air Mobility (UAM) centers around urban connectivity using Aerial Vehicles. The term UAM is often used interchangeably with Advanced Air Mobility (AAM); however, UAM focuses on urban connectivity whereas AAM encompasses all regions. |
UAM/AAM or, AAM/UAM | All-encompassing terms. |
Ion Propulsion or, Ionic Propulsion | Ion Propulsion is a method of propulsion that uses electrical rather than chemical forces to generate thrust. It involves ionizing a gas to propel a craft. Ion Propulsion is entirely noiseless and produces zero carbon emissions. |
Vertiport | The standard port or structure used by Air Taxis. |
Vertistation | The smaller version of a vertiport. The vertistation can accommodate just one or two Air Taxis. |
Vertihub | The vertihub has multiple take-off, landing and parking areas, maintenance facilities, and the possibility of shopping and dining. It is built on the periphery of an urban or suburban area and is akin to a small airport for Air Taxis. |
Aerial Vehicle | An umbrella term that can encompass not only eVTOLs such as Air Taxis, but also Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. |
Air Taxi or, Flying Taxi | The terms Air Taxi and Flying Taxi are often used interchangeably to mean commercial e-VTOLs for transporting passengers, cargo, and/or mail, either on a scheduled or nonscheduled basis, along short routes not serviced by large airlines. |
Future of Transportation 'Flying Cars' TERMINOLOGY
Not an exhaustive list, but hopefully useful/of interest. Adapted from various sources.
VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway.
One type of VTOL is an Air Taxi.
Another is the helicopter.eVTOL
or, e-VTOLThe term eVTOL is often used interchangeably with VTOL; however, eVTOL is more specific.
eVTOL refers to the variety of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft that uses electric power.
Many eVTOL's concept are for Air Taxi application.AAM
Advanced Air MobilityAdvanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses urban, suburban and rural transportation using Aerial Vehicles.
The term AAM is often used interchangeably with Urban Air Mobility (UAM); however, AAM is inclusive of the rural counterparts whereas the latter focuses on urban connectivity.UAM
Urban Air MobilityUrban Air Mobility (UAM) centers around urban connectivity using Aerial Vehicles.
The term UAM is often used interchangeably with Advanced Air Mobility (AAM); however, UAM focuses on urban connectivity whereas AAM encompasses all regions.UAM/AAM
or, AAM/UAMAll-encompassing terms. Ion Propulsion
or, Ionic PropulsionIon Propulsion is a method of propulsion that uses electrical rather than chemical forces to generate thrust. It involves ionizing a gas to propel a craft. Ion Propulsion is entirely noiseless and produces zero carbon emissions. Vertiport The standard port or structure used by Air Taxis. VertistationThe smaller version of a vertiport. The vertistation can accommodate just one or two Air Taxis. VertihubThe vertihub has multiple take-off, landing and parking areas, maintenance facilities, and the possibility of shopping and dining. It is built on the periphery of an urban or suburban area and is akin to a small airport for Air Taxis. Aerial Vehicle An umbrella term that can encompass not only eVTOLs such as Air Taxis, but also Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Air Taxi
or, Flying TaxiThe terms Air Taxi and Flying Taxi are often used interchangeably to mean commercial e-VTOLs for transporting passengers, cargo, and/or mail, either on a scheduled or nonscheduled basis, along short routes not serviced by large airlines.