UAM - Konferansen i Glasgow benyttes i markedsføring av null-utslipps fly - CAPA / AW&ST

 

As COP26 opens Ferrovial pledges to create network of ‘vertiports’

Analysis

Et eksempel på Vertiport

The COP26 Climate Change Conference has got under way in Glasgow, Scotland (minus Greta Thunberg, who has delivered one of her trademark speeches, criticising the COP event; and according to the local newspaper, the Daily Record, the private jets used by participants collectively will have pumped out more CO2 flying there than 1600 Scots burn in a year.)

Those delegates might have won more support had they turned up in environmentally friendly air taxis but the fact is that sector of the business is still at a ‘nascent’ stage, in terms both of the technology and the infrastructure.

However, Ferrovial, which jointly operates Glasgow International Airport, has announced it will build 25 ‘vertiports’ around the UK, which will help kick-start the infrastructure side of the equation. It follows several other similar announcements during the past year in various parts of the world, most of which got lost in the COVID-19 mire.

This article looks at how far the VTOL business has come, and at what pitfalls still remain for it to overcome.

Summary

• Ferrovial to build 25 UK ‘vertiports’ to host air taxi operations.
• Numerous other enterprises have entered this sector and are working on prototypes, in one case with regular year-round operations slated for 2023.
• Potentially, this ‘air mobility’ market is huge – trillions of dollars.
• But there are significant operational issues still to be overcome and the cost/price equation is critical.
• The business case is built on minimising road journeys to and from airports, along with the attendant ‘pollution’, but will that be enough?
• The absence of the really big entrepreneurial hitters raises questions.