Private flight booking platform Flapz is collaborating with urban air mobility infrastructure group Varon Vehicles to stimulate a market for eVTOL air taxi services in Latin America. In a memorandum of understanding signed on November 8, Flapz says it intends to incorporate eVTOL on-demand services into its online portal, which currently offers flights in business jets and helicopters.
Flapz, which is based in Israel and has offices in Colombia, where Varon is based, and Chile, says it wants to develop a customer base for the "ecosystem" that its partner intends to put in place in major cities across Latin America. The companies say they are looking to create a “15-minute-city” concept to significantly reduce travel times in the region’s congested metropolitan areas.
“The way we move is changing,” Flapz CEO and co-founder Ionatan Galeano commented. “Technology has delivered the opportunity to completely improve how transportation infrastructure is embedded in our cities and this is fascinating. Being able to collaborate with Varon Vehicles to disrupt how entire communities connect, with Flapz serving as a one-stop marketplace to access the world of urban air mobility, will be one of the main objectives in moving forward our quest to transform private aviation in Latin America.”
Flapz claims to have more than 250 aircraft available for charter on its platform, and these are operated by several dozen service providers. It offers whole-aircraft charters, empty-leg availability, and single-seat bookings.
“Our company will be providing transportation services in diverse markets, including logistics, medical, government, and others,” said Varon Vehicles founder and CEO Felipe Varon, indicating that the collaboration may get underway with existing aircraft types before new eVTOL models are certified. “We’re directing our attention first to the tourism market, which offers a tremendous potential in Latin America and for which we already have technologies and aircraft available to begin implementation of our first operations.”
