More news about Coventry EVTOL airport

The British government has chosen the Urban Air Port Air-One consortium to carry out the Future Flight Challenge program. The goal is to create a fully operational next-generation airport for “vertical vertical take-off and landing” (eVTOL) – such as transport drones and air taxis. The planned building will be handed over in Coventry, England later this year, according to Hyundai’s newsletter. Urban Air Port, with the involvement of government, industry and the public, demonstrates how next-generation urban mobility can be used to the fullest extent possible, ie reducing congestion and air pollution and making transport carbon-neutral, while providing a seamless travel and transportation service. .

NASA estimates that urban aviation in the U.S. alone will develop into a $ 500 billion business in the coming years, and the biggest obstacle to growth is a lack of infrastructure. This is where the Urban Air Port investment can help. One of the key players in the collaboration is Hyundai, which also has its own urban aviation department and has chosen Urban Air Port as a key partner to work together to stimulate global growth in the sector. The South Korean company is developing its own eVTOL vehicle while also working in other areas to develop the entire ecosystem. The new airport is also important to him because in 2028 he would already be putting his own air taxi on the market. The common needs are even more ambitious: the consortium would build more than 200 similar sites over the next five years to meet global needs.

“Cars will need roads, rail will need rails, planes will need airports, eVTOL will need urban airports,” explained Ricky Sandhu, founder of Urban Air Port. “The world’s first commercial plane took off more than a hundred years ago, later creating a modern, interconnected world. Urban Air Port will further strengthen the connectivity of cities, increase productivity and make the UK a leading player in a whole new, clean global economy. ”

Of the existing infrastructure, helipads are most similar to the next-generation airport, but the latter occupies sixty percent less space. With innovative tools, it can be built in just a few days, has net CO2 emissions and can even be operated off-grid, meaning it is not necessary to rely on utilities. As a result, it will be easy to relocate and can play an important role in disaster relief, helping to deploy drones and other eVTOLs in the critical area.

The question may arise: why Coventry? The city is strategically located in the heart of the UK, on ​​the one hand, and the historic center of the car and aircraft industry, on the other, with a skilled staff capable of helping the industry of the future. In December 2020, Coventry was chosen as the most suitable British city for electric cars, and this year it will be the country’s cultural capital, and next year it will be the director of the Commonwealth Games. The Urban Air Port project is being supported by the UK government with £ 1.2 million under the Future Flight Challenge program, receiving an additional £ 125 million from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and expected to receive around £ 175 million from industry players.