Skyportz and Electro.Aero today announced a partnership to jointly develop a “vertiport in a box” – an affordable, modular, turn-key solution for smaller property sites wanting to join the Advanced Air Mobility future.
Speaking from the Revolution Aero conference in Dublin, Clem Newton-Brown, Skyportz CEO said “The focus in the industry to date has been on larger vertiports located at existing airports. This is the low hanging fruit which will form the essential backbone of an Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem However, if this industry is to reach its potential we need to break the nexus between aviation and airports and let private property owners develop their own vertiports.
“At Skyportz we are focusing on affordable options that property developers can incorporate right now into new developments or retrofit into existing buildings. We will soon be releasing a beautiful tiny modular vertiport building that can be delivered to site in a shipping container, and assembled without heavy equipment, complete with a high powered battery bank and charger with solar panels.”
According to a Skyportz press release, the financials for vertiports requiring big investments do not stack up for now with no aircraft yet certified and no immediate business model. “With the Skyportz system they will be providing something of value from the moment of installation – the battery pack and solar panels can be hooked in to power the host building and the vertiport building can be used for other purposes while we wait for aircraft to get certified,” said the release. “It is generally considered that it is too soon to get approvals for vertiport uses from Governments – the standards are still in development and nowhere in the world has any Government set out the rules and regulations (other than for display sites).
“Skyportz will be getting our network of vertiports and battery packs established now with enthusiastic property owners who will come back later for an aviation use permit. In the meantime they will have developed sustainable power storage and a vertiport building that could be used as a cafe or meeting room”, said Newton-Brown. Skyportz will be announcing further partners once their modular design is released later this year, including weather data, air traffic management systems, booking services and aviation operators.
“We will offer a complete solution for property owners to activate their sites for aviation. And as a modular, fully transportable system we will be able to supply any global market with our partners at Electro.Aero”, said Newton-Brown.
For more information
www.skyportz.com