Urban-Air Port is now one step closer to achieving its plans to develop 200 vertiport sites across the world within the next five years after securing a landmark investment.
On 19 January 2022, Urban-Air Port Ltd (UAP) announced that it has secured investment from Supernal – previously the Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group – to deliver on the companies’ shared vision of integrating advanced air mobility (AAM) into existing transit networks and creating a seamless passenger journey.
The funding will help to support UAP’s plans to develop 200 vertiport sites across the world in the next five years and also aid the development of UAP’s new vertiport models, including the CityBox delivery drone hub.
These vertiport sites will provide essential infrastructure to help to enable the mass adoption of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – such as cargo drones and air taxis – as public acceptance grows and will transform the way that goods and people are transported around urban areas.
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Furthermore, the world’s first fully operational hub for eVTOLs, Air-One, will open for public visitation in Coventry City Centre in April 2022. The demonstration will show how AAM can help to unlock the potential of sustainable mobility and how the industry will work to help reduce congestion, cut air pollution and decarbonise transport.
The urban air mobility market is forecasted to grow by nine per cent annually, reaching $12.7 billion by 2027 and up to $1 trillion in the next 20 years. However, lack of ground infrastructure remains one of the biggest barriers to the growth of the AAM industry. For example, only three per cent of industry investment in 2021 ($150 million) was in the physical ground infrastructure, despite 33 times that figure ($5 billion) announced for the development of eVTOL vehicles in the same period.
Ricky Sandhu, Founder and Executive Chairman of Urban-Air Port, said: “Cars need roads. Trains need rails. Planes need airports. eVTOLs need Urban-Air Ports. Despite the unparalleled potential of eVTOL aircraft to revolutionise mobility, the importance of the ground infrastructure that enables them is too often overlooked. With Supernal’s investment, expertise and connection to Hyundai Motor Group, we can supercharge the rollout of sustainable, intermodal and scalable ground infrastructure that will unleash the future of advanced air mobility globally.”
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