Customers: Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation Mechanical and Instrument Engineering Contractors: Urban-Air Port Product: Complex Systems Engineering ProjectsProject date: 2021/09
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On September 16, 2021, Hyundai's division and British startup Urban-Air Port announced the start of construction of airports for electric taxi around the world to support emerging industries for the delivery of cargo by drones and air taxis. In total, it is planned to build 65 points.
Partners will need a large infrastructure to service these new vehicles. According to the press release, investors hope to create a completely new industry that offers environmentally friendly, convenient and fast taxi flights around the city and between regional cities, avoiding traffic jams on the ground.
The collaboration is part of Hyundai Motor Group's larger Urban Air Mobility Division plan to create 200 electric air mobility centers around the world by the end of 2026.
The necessary infrastructure for the maintenance and operation of electric aircraft with vertical take-off and landing was called one of the key problems that the industry must solve before it can flourish.
The numbers speak for themselves: in 2021, $4.7 billion was announced for the development of eVTOL such as Archer Aviation, Joby and Lilium. But only $150 million was allocated for the physical infrastructure necessary for the effective implementation of these flights.
Urban-Air Port, which calls itself the only company focused solely on deploying the infrastructure and technologies necessary for the operation of eVTOL and unmanned delivery aircraft, also said that in early 2022 in the UK, Urban-Air Port will introduce the world's first fully operational urban air port[1]