‘World-first’ airport for drones opens in Coventry

UK start-up Urban-Air Port (UAP) has announced the opening of ‘Air-One’, a fully-operational hub for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, such as air taxis and autonomous cargo drones.

The vertiport – dubbed the ‘worlds smallest airport’ – was opened in Coventry after months of development and a significant investment from Hyundai Motor Group’s urban air division, Supernal.

UAP claims the project is a “world-first”, and will herald “a new age of zero-emission, low-congestion urban transport”.

“The opening of Air-One is a momentous moment – the starting gun for a new age of transport, an age of zero-emission, congestion-free travel between and within cities that will make people healthier, happier and more connected than ever before,” said Ricky Sandhu, Founder and Executive Chairman of Urban-Air Port.

“Cars have roads. Trains have rails. Planes have airports. Now, eVTOLs have an Urban-Air Port.”

Initially police and delivery drones will fly from the vertiport before it is dismantled during the summer and redeployed to other sites in the UK and abroad.

“The opening of Air-One, backed by government funding, will revolutionise the way people and goods travel across the nation,” said UK Aviation Minister Robert Courts.

“This step forward puts Britain at the vanguard of clean transport, bringing investment and high-skilled, green job opportunities to the nation, while levelling up opportunity in the Midlands.”

Expansion

The eVTOL flying taxi market has expanded rapidly over the past five years, with further growth expected.

A report by market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts that by 2040 there will be 430,000 such vehicles in operation around the world.

UAP has announced plans to establish 200 hubs for flying taxis and cargo drones across 65 cities globally over the next five years.

More bases are planned for the UK, US, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, South Korea and Southeast Asia –  with Los Angeles and London already confirmed as future sites.

Regulation

But in order for eVTOLs to be deployed commercially at scale, three core aviation regulatory approvals are required in most jurisdictions: type certification, production certification, and operational authorities.

These involve the regulatory approval of the airworthiness of a particular manufacturing design and certification to allow the mass production of each eVTOL.

Additional operational requirements and authorisations for commercial operations are required.

In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently working to adapt existing aviation regulations to accommodate eVTOLs, while in Europe the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is developing draft regulations and a new certification framework through a series of key building blocks.

But the adoption of full certification to operate air-taxis that transport passengers on a commercial scale is still very much in its early stages.