Munich Airport International has expressed interest in developing a new airport infrastructure to support future eVTOL ops.
Munich Airport International (MAI) has established a new partnership with Urban-Air Port Ltd (UAP) to develop ground infrastructure and airport operations that can enable the the vertical take-off and landing of electric air taxis, according to an Oct. 13 announcement.
UAP describes itself as an ultra-compact, rapidly deployable, multi-functional operations hub for manned and unmanned vehicles providing aircraft command and control, charging/refueling, cargo and passenger loading and other mission specific facilities. Under the new partnership, the two companies want to exploit MAI’s airport knowledge in collaboration with UAP’s ground infrastructure technology, to establish a roadmap for efficient and sustainable flight operations.
An “Air One” program – a fully operational and integrated airport for drones and eVTOL that interlinks air mobility with ground transportation in a multimodal hub, is currently under development by UAP. The Air One concept is designated to be located in a “downtown setting,” according to UAP, and will first be presented to the industry and the general public in Coventry, United Kingdom in Spring 2022.
“The aviation industry is constantly evolving. While Urban Air Mobility was a vague vision just a few years ago, this trend is within reach today. We as Munich Airport International see great potential in this new mode of transportation and have developed an advanced air mobility program to actively shape the future,” Dr. Ralf Gaffal, MAI’s Managing Director said in a statement. “Partnering with Urban-Air Port® allows us to join forces in designing, implementing and operating scalable and sustainable urban-air ports around the world.”
The two companies are also interested in collaborating on longer term projects and opportunities, with an initial focus on use cases and markets which are expected to emerge in the next couple of years.
“Urban-Air Port is not only working with the world’s leading developers of eVTOLs, but also developing the full ecosystem to enable air mobility to take flight by building strategic partnerships with major mobility and industry partners across the world. This collaboration with Munich Airport International, the ‘5-Star Standard’ in airport operations allows us to jointly develop our expertise in airport development and operations. Moreover, we can lay the foundations for a globally integrated urban air transport network,” said Ricky Sandhu, Founder & Executive Chairman at Urban-Air Port.