Laying the Foundations for eVTOL Air Taxi Services

As frontrunners in a somewhat protracted race towards certifying eVTOL aircraft and bringing them to market, manufacturers face the increasingly urgent task of providing operational infrastructure. This effort, which has yet to result in much in terms of bricks and mortar for new vertiports, involves several of the manufacturers themselves and also ground service providers, including some from the business aviation sector.

As early 2026 dawns, Skyports Infrastructure is on track to complete what it terms “the world’s first commercial vertiport,” the inaugural element of its Dubai-based network scheduled for completion in the first quarter of the year. The facility was granted regulatory approval in January 2025 and, when operational, is designed to facilitate 42,000 aircraft movements and approximately 170,000 passengers a year from two landing areas. An exclusive six-year deal will see Californian eVTOL developer Joby launch commercial services in Dubai with its four-passenger S4 vehicle (following expected certification in 2026). However, it seems this four-story vertiport stands in contrast to other infrastructure ambitions, few of which have progressed beyond a testbed capacity.

European regulator EASA defines a vertiport as “an area of land, water, or structure used or intended to be used for the landing and take-off of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.” Much as conventional heliports are aircraft-agnostic, vertiports are also intended to accommodate a multitude of eVTOL types (although electric charging requirements may differ). Proposed vertiport designs vary considerably: from dual-use sites leveraging existing infrastructure to purpose-built facilities. For Australian vertiport developer Skyportz, the objective is to provide “something better than a circle painted on a car park,” which it says is exemplified by its recently unveiled Aeroberm design.

Testing Times

Plans around eVTOL infrastructure have grown in maturity since initial demonstration projects were first proposed. Skyports, in partnership with Volocopter, unveiled what it labeled the world’s first vertiport prototype in Singapore in 2019. These early iterations served both as test grounds for early aircraft concepts and as public engagement projects seeking to showcase the potential of the so-called “third aviation revolution.”

There was notable progress on this front in 2022, with Urban-Air Port’s three-week proof-of-concept showcase site in the UK and the inauguration of what developer UrbanV cited as “the first test vertiport in Europe.” This was located at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, with UrbanV also proposing a network of vertiports (in partnership with the now-defunct Lilium) along the south of France. In the Paris area, Skyports and Groupe ADP launched a European vertiport terminal testbed.

Although the subsequent years have seen many aircraft manufacturers successfully perform demonstration flights on continents worldwide, the technical feasibility of these flights has often operated independently from future commercial considerations. However, passenger ecosystem expectations are being considered by “living lab” projects. Skyports is engaging with both Joby and Vertical Aerospace in operational trials on such ventures, with the latter having completed a demonstration vertiport at an existing general aviation airfield in the UK.

The 2025 Osaka World Expo in Japan also saw demonstration flights from OEMs, including SkyDrive, conducted from the Osakako vertiport. “Throughout the Expo 2025 program, Osaka Metro hopes to promote wider recognition of the word ‘vertiport’ as a term for describing an eVTOL takeoff and landing site,” wrote the project partner.

Moving out of the sandbox towards real-world missions, the potential of extending the operational expertise, preexisting infrastructure, and regulatory approvals of existing heliports also brings benefits to the advanced air mobility sector. Archer Aviation’s Abu Dhabi network of vertiport proposals includes Zayed Port’s Cruise Terminal, the only site to date with published design approval from the region’s aviation regulator, which it received in April 2025.

“Once complete, this location is targeted to be the first hybrid heliport available for commercial air taxi operations in Dubai,” Archer said in a recent announcement. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Adam Goldstein, added that “leveraging existing aviation assets is a cornerstone of our launch strategy. It allows us to move both quickly and safely.” At the time, Archer and its partners stated they plan to add charging infrastructure and upgrade landing and safety systems in the second half of 2025.

Other hybrid examples include Skyports Infrastructure’s acquisition of the former Falcon Heliport in the UK capital (now Skyports London Heliport), alongside the rebranding in April 2025 of the former Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York City to Downtown Skyport. In the same month, its joint owner-operators Skyports Infrastructure and Groupe ADP said electrification provision was expected to start later this year. However, it is unclear how ready many of these dual-use sites are actually ready to accommodate eVTOL aircraft.

FAA Lays the Ground Rules

Nevertheless, the revised engineering brief issued by the FAA in January 2025 is helping provide some clarity on vertiport design standards. Importantly, this included the classification of a vertiport as a “type of heliport that [the FAA is] optimizing for the needs of powered-lift aircraft and special class rotorcraft with three or more propulsors.”

Robert Bassey, an engineer with the FAA Airports Design and Construction Branch and author of the brief, explained that this differentiation was significant because “this new class of aircraft with three or more propulsors requires, at a kind of overarching philosophical level, a different type of infrastructure.” He concluded that the brief “will allow state and local jurisdictions to leverage existing infrastructure requirements with minimal changes.”

“The FAA will develop a performance-based advisory circular on vertiport design in the future, as additional performance data is gleaned about these emerging VTOL aircraft,” declared the U.S. regulator in December 2024.

Collaboration with existing FBOs also offers opportunities to eVTOL operations. “We anticipate that electric aircraft of all types, including eVTOLs, will be operated alongside our existing business aircraft operations,” a Signature Aviation representative told AIN in August, adding that the timing and nature of those operations are still to be determined.

“As the world’s largest network of private aviation terminals, Signature’s forward-leaning approach to aviation modernization aligns with our vision,” added Dan Dalton, Wisk Aero’s v-p of commercial partnerships. Atlantic Aviation’s January 2025 acquisition of Ferrovial Vertiports will also leverage the former’s U.S. operational expertise. “We see tremendous long-term benefits and growth in building out infrastructure to support the advanced air mobility space,” added Atlantic Aviation CEO Jeff Foland.

In the business aviation sector, other FBO groups, including Clay Lacy, have declared ambitions to support eVTOL air taxi operators. Clay Lacy has projects on the drawing board in California, Florida, and the New York City area.

Clean-sheet Concepts

Alongside upgrading existing infrastructure, new-build projects are also seeking to integrate eVTOLs alongside conventional fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. In November 2025, Falcon Executive Aviation announced plans for a “new fully private multi-modal FBO terminal in Dubai,” something it described as being “designed from the ground up to become the city’s primary hub for helicopter services and future eVTOL operations.”

As the final push towards type certification continues, it’s not yet clear when commercial eVTOL services (outside of mainland China, with its domestically developed EHang EH216-S) will commence in the U.S. or the Middle East. Speaking before the Dubai Airshow in November, Didier Papadopoulos, Joby’s president of aircraft OEM, clarified that Joby was “not necessarily getting a type certificate [in the UAE] before [certification work is complete with] the FAA.” He added: “Our intent is to get approval for specific operations in Dubai.”

Vertiport networks planned for the region include three further Dubai sites for Joby, alongside its 60% completed flagship facility. Abu Dhabi Airports and Skyports have confirmed two initial vertiport sites at existing airports, which the latter says are already under construction.

More than 10 sites are planned in total. Skyports is also working with Abu Dhabi-based drone company Lodd Autonomous for a vertiport in Abu Dhabi, “and beyond,” while Falcon Aviation is teaming with Archer to jointly develop a network spanning the Falcon Heliport, Dubai’s Palm, and Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall Heliport.

Abu Dhabi government-owned Autocraft is also planning to start flying Chinese company TCab Tech’s E20+ aircraft in the coming months. Speaking in November, K2 v-p of strategy Waleed Alblooshi described the region as well-suited to eVTOL operations. “It’s the government, it’s the regulatory authorities,” he offered. “Here in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, you make things go fast—that’s why all the companies want to start their operations here.”

In the U.S, OEMs and their partners have been prolific in announcing similar networks of proposed vertiports, with California being a notable hotspot for locally-based Archer and Joby. The Global Air Mobility AAM-UAM market report, published in July 2025, revealed that North America has plans to develop eVTOL air services in 29 states.

Following its appointment as the “official air taxi provider” of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Archer has signed contracts to acquire the lease on the nearby Hawthorne Airport for $126 million. The company said this will “serve as its operational hub” for the games, while also providing the foundation for wider air taxi plans across the sprawling metropolis.

Again, it’s not clear how soon this facility could be eVTOL-operational, with timelines for many vertiport ventures now appearing to take a slightly less imminent approach. Although Orlando International Airport is soliciting a developer for a potential vertiport site, this isn’t intended to be in use until 2028. In Indonesia, Nasantara Capital City Authority’s plans for the development of a new capital city include eVTOL aspects, albeit also placing a 2029 expectation on their early commercialization.

Long-term Use Cases

The wide-reaching applications of potential eVTOL missions have led to some creative planning, including suggested installations at existing airports, beachfront resorts, universities, and even hospitals. Archer has a proposal for what it hopes will be “the first hospital-based vertiport in the UAE,” with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi proposing to use the Midnight aircraft for both “non-emergency passenger use cases and time-critical organ transplant.” In November 2025, Chinese developer Autoflight revealed the world’s first so-called “zero-carbon water vertiport,” which it described as “a mobile aerial hub and intelligent command center on water.”

EASA has stated that “to realize fully the potential of urban air mobility, vertiports need to be easily accessible, with good connecting services to streets, railway stations, buses, etc.” But for now, with the exception of electrified preexisting heliports, standalone city-center vertiports are notably lacking.

In Brazil, Eve Air Mobility is partnering with infrastructure specialists PRS Aeroportos and VertiMob Infrastructure to consider vertiport operation concepts, illustrated by a vertiport facility atop a shopping mall. Although this 24-month sandbox exercise will not involve any actual flying, city-center operations could become plausible as aircraft operational maturity and airspace considerations evolve.