Ferrovial and Milligan have developed assessment criteria to determine the viability of potential sites for eVTOL operations.
Infrastructure operator Ferrovial has partnered with real estate developer Milligan to identify and develop sites for vertiports in the UK.
The partnership is a follow-on to an agreement signed in 2021 with UK electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) startup Vertical Aerospace to create a network of up to 25 vertiports across the UK.
Separately, UK vertiport startup Urban-Air Port (UAP) has signed a memorandum of understanding with French construction engineering company Egis to jointly develop its Vertical Airfield modular vertiport.
UAP has also signed a letter of intent with South Korea’s Hanwha Systems and airport operator Korea Airports to cooperate on developing vertiport infrastructure to support advanced air mobility (AAM).
Ferrovial and Milligan, with planning advisors AECOM and Lichfields, plan to identify UK locations with high demand for air mobility services, select potential vertiport sites and conduct an assessment to determine the viability of each site for eVTOL operations.
Locations are being sought that are compatible with airspace requirements, are at least 4,000 m² (43,000 ft.²) in size and already connected to utilities, and avoid residential or noise-sensitive areas, Ferrovial says. Sites can be on the ground or on top of buildings or parking garages.
Design and fit-out costs must be covered, Ferrovial says, adding the companies are in active discussions with local authorities, landowners and asset owners in UK locations that align with Ferrovial’s vertiports model for air mobility demand.
Under its partnership with UAP, France’s Egis, which operates 20 midsize airports, will provide specialist engineering and operational input to design the Vertical Airfield compact, modular vertiport.
In April 2022, Urban-Air Port built the Air One vertiport demonstrator in Coventry, England, and conducted more than 100 drone flights with support from the UK government’s Future Flight Challenge. Supernal, the eVTOL subsidiary of South Korean carmaker Hyundai, is an investor in UAP.
Related Content
