First UK eVTOL Aircraft to Land at Coventry ‘Pop-Up’

With a £1.2-million grant from the UK Research and Innovation’s Future Flight Challenge, the first “urban air port” for electric aircraft is to be built in the heartland.

One major challenge of eVTOL (electric vertical take off and landing) aircraft operations “is the availability of landing sites or so-called vertiports”, Dr. Jörg P. Müller, Head of Programs and Strategy at Urban Airbus Mobility, stated last year in an interview with the Germany consultancy, RolandBerger. “There is a limited number of potential locations where new landing sites can be built within a city; these landing sites need to be vehicle agnostic in order to allow them to be used by different types of eVTOL vehicles”.

NASA predicts that urban-air mobility could be worth up to $500 billion USD in America alone in the near-term, but a significant barrier to market growth is the lack of infrastructure.

A London-based architectural design form, Urban Air Port, part of Six Miles Across London Limited (aka ‘small’) has developed a solution -- the world’s first ‘pop up’ urban airport and charging hub for eVTOL aircraft, to be known simply as ‘Air-One’.

The first Air One is set to be launched in Coventry, UK, southeast of Birmingham, later this year in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group, Coventry City Council, and the UK government.

The first air mobility network in the US will be launched in the Orlando, Florida area by German eVTOL developer Lilium, Tavistock, and the City of Orlando.

The Air-One facility claims a physical footprint 60% smaller than that of a traditional heliport and uses IKEA flat pack-style modular construction, enabling a site to be installed in a matter of days. Urban Air Port claims the site will emit net-zero carbon emissions and could be operated completely off the grid, opening up possible locations for development. More than 200 Air-One sites worldwide are planned over the next five years.

The design could also support disaster emergency management, enabling rapid deployment of drones and other eVTOL to collect and transport emergency supplies, equipment and people where needed.

Ever wonder what it is like flying on-call medical missions in the pandemic? Check out  Transitioning Through a Pandemic (And a Few Other Challenges) to find out.

The leaders of the project say it will bring industry, government and the public together to demonstrate how sustainable urban air mobility can reduce congestion, cut air pollution and decarbonise transport while providing passenger journeys and deliveries.

“Over a hundred years ago, the world’s first commercial flight took off, creating the modern connected world. Urban Air Port will improve connectivity across our cities, boost productivity and help the UK to take the lead in a whole new clean global economy”, said Ricky Sandhu, Founder and Executive Chairman, Urban Air Port.

Why Coventry? It is a historic hub for the automobile and aerospace industry, with a pool of people and skills that can support manufacturing. The city’s heartland location also provides access within four hours to most parts of the UK.

The Air-One site in Coventry will showcase demonstrations of remote aircraft command-and-control, charging and refuelling, as well as cargo and passenger loading for manned and unmanned eVTOL aircraft operating in key markets: passenger air taxi services, autonomous logistics, and disaster emergency management. Malloy Aeronautics, a leading UK-based drone developer, logistics and engineering company, is Urban Air Port’s drone aircraft partner.

UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge is investing up to £300 million – £125 million in government funds, plus £175 million from industry – to develop greener ways to fly, such as all-electric aircraft and deliveries by drone, by advancing electric and autonomous flight technologies. Launched in 2018, UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It brings together seven disciplinary research councils, Research England (higher education) and Innovate UK.