Vertiport developers and operators face a tough challenge trying to balance the need for a return on investment in the initial years of advanced air mobility (AAM) operations, while ensuring landing fees will not be prohibitive for eVTOL operators.
According to Kevin Cox, Chief Executive Officer at Ferrovial – which is building three vertiports currently in Florida (soon to be four) – the company has decided on a policy of waiting for five years before initial vertiport development and build costs are covered, to ensure fees to operators are not prohibitive.
For Istanbul Airport’s (iGA) CEO Selahattin Bilgen this is a particularly difficult challenge. “The cost of (initial) services is often higher than expectations”, he told ICAO AAM Symposium delegates. “Yet we have to make this affordable for society in general.”
