Embraer’s Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions subsidiary and vertiport group Skyports today announced the expansion of their partnership to prepare the way for launching eVTOL air taxi operations in Asia and the Americas. The two companies will use Eve’s planned eVTOL aircraft and urban air traffic management software being developed by its sister company Atech to work on how flight operations can be integrated with vertiport networks.
The collaboration builds on a working relationship Embraer and Skyports have had in place since early 2020 when the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer was at the early stages of developing plans for the urban air mobility (UAM) sector through its EmbraerX technology incubator. In October 2020, Embraer established Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions as a separate subsidiary, and now it is in process of discussing a possible merger with a special purpose acquisition company called Zanite.
UK-based Skyports will take part in a joint "market readiness exercise" with Eve’s team, as well as a “vehicle concept of operations” study in Brazil. The two companies are already doing similar work together with air traffic management service provider Airservices Australia.
In 2019, Skyports assembled a full-scale temporary vertiport in Singapore’s Marina Bay district for a public flight demonstration by Germany-based eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter. The company flew its 2X two-seat prototype to demonstrate UAM operations to attendees at a transportation trade show being held in Singapore.
In today’s announcement, Skyports and Eve did not specify which cities they expect to be early adopters of UAM services in the Asia and Americas regions. However, a publicity image release with the news showed a mock-up of a vertiport with Eve’s proposed aircraft in Dallas.
“With UAM, we have a unique opportunity to co-create vertiports, vehicles, and operations, designing a new and optimized mobility ecosystem from the ground up,” commented Eve’s president and CEO André Stein. “We are thrilled to have Skyports in this journey to develop UAM solutions in Asia and the Americas, bringing us a step closer in providing commuters and travelers with an entirely new, zero-emission, experience.”
