Aircraft manufacturer Volocopter has teamed up with landing infrastructure company Skyports to open what they are calling the world’s first ‘vertiport’ for eVTOL aircraft.
The German manufacturer will assemble the self-dubbed Volo-Port in Singapore at the end of September from parts manufactured in China.
Skyports had to win the support of Singapore’s civil aviation authority, transport ministry, and economic development board before receiving approval for building the vertiport, a process that the company is currently working on with several manufacturers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
“Generally, the regulatory process for (urban air mobility) ground infrastructure is a complete mess; there is no commonality in regulations and we need to make better progress with this to achieve scalability worldwide,” said SkyPorts managing director Duncan Walker.
“The locations we have picked out for development has been driven more by politics, in terms of getting the right support from the authorities, rather than just economics.”
The companies are hoping to begin commercial flights from their Singapore base from 2022, with the opening of the vertiport a key part of pitching the urban air mobility concept to city officials and regulators.