Often described as flying taxis, eVTOLs are typically small electric planes or larger drone-inspired vehicles that are designed to carry a small number of passengers relatively short distances.
German firm Volocopter plans to introduce a service in Paris by the time it holds the Olympics in 2024, while aircraft-leasing company Avolon issued a $2bn order in June for 500 eVTOLs – also with a 2024 commercial service launch date in mind.
Urban-Air Port said that the burgeoning eVTOL sector currently lacks the infrastructure needed to support the vehicles and could be a major block on market growth. Only 3 per cent of the investment so far this year ($150m) has been targeted towards the physical infrastructure.
It aims to establish a global network of urban-air ports with plans to build 200 sites globally in the next five years.
Investment in the sector has grown substantially this year, with $4.7bn announced thus far for the development of eVTOL vehicles...