Australian vertiport infrastructure company Skyportz and an expert in chargers for eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing) Electro.Aero has come together to jointly develop a “vertiport in a box” – an affordable, modular, turn-key solution for smaller property sites wanting to join the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) future.
“At Skyportz, we are focusing on affordable options that property developers can incorporate right now into new developments or retrofit into existing buildings,” Clem Newton-Brown, Skyportz CEO, said. “We will soon be releasing a beautiful tiny modular vertiport building that can be delivered to the site in a shipping container and assembled without heavy equipment, complete with a high-powered battery bank and charger with solar panels.”
Skyportz’s solution is a modular vertiport building compared to the extended, complex vertiports that most AAM companies envision for the future. The financials for vertiports requiring big investments do not stack up for now, with no aircraft yet certified and no immediate business model. With the Skyportz system, they will be providing something of value from the moment of installation – the battery pack and solar panels can be hooked in to power the host building, and the vertiport building can be used for other purposes.
The company is waiting for the aircraft to get certified. Generally, it is considered that it is too soon to get approvals for vertiport uses from Governments – the standards are still in development, and nowhere in the world has any Government set out the rules and regulations.
“Skyportz will be getting our network of vertiports and battery packs established now with enthusiastic property owners who will come back later for an aviation use permit. In the meantime, they will have developed sustainable power storage and a vertiport building that could be used as a cafe or meeting room”, said Newton-Brown. “We will offer a complete solution for property owners to activate their sites for aviation. And as a modular, fully transportable system, we will be able to supply any global market with our partners at Electro.Aero.”
Skyportz plans to add more partners for air traffic management systems, weather data, booking services, and aviation operators.
Electro.Aero specializes in battery charging and power storage to support electric aviation. Their systems will be suitable for all electric air taxis, with the added bonus of providing sustainable power to the host building.
