UK-based Skyports and Germany’s eVTOL builder Volocopter will build the first mobile Volo-Port, designed by Brandlab, for urban air taxis in Singapore later this year, the companies announced today. The project partners said the Volo-Port prototype will be a test site to measure the customer experience; showcase customer services and amenities, including the boarding process and passenger lounges; facilitate practical testing of operational procedures such as ground operations and services, including battery swaps and charging, maintenance, safety, and security; and provide regulator input opportunity into the facility design before it is rolled out at multiple locations.
“Once regulation comes through on the aviation and city level—and this will be sooner than most think—we will be ready to take off,” said Volocopter co-founder Alex Zosel. “Receiving the commercial license for air taxi aircraft is a question of time, not possibility. We are thus focusing on shaping the necessary ecosystem around urban air mobility (UAM), including air traffic management, city regulation, and the takeoff and landing infrastructure.”
“Each individual Volo-Port is designed so that it can stand alone or connect to other ports in numerous formations, enabling rapid deployment and scalability. We have analyzed the available spaces and movement dynamics in city centers across the world and recognize that infrastructure is a key enabler for the emerging UAM market,” said Skyport managing director Duncan Walker.