A partnership between Spanish airport management company Aena, Italian vertiport operator UrbanV, and urban air mobility company Volocopter have launched a pilot program to develop an UAM ecosystem. The program consists of a feasibility study for the deployment of UAM and a potential proof of concept of commercial operations (CONOPS) of a vertiport at an airport within the Aena flight network, says the press release.
The pilot program will progress in two steps: The first two years will focus on a feasibility study of UAM use within the Aena network, identifying potential customers, vertiport locations and commercial routes, infrastructure needs, and possible connections with other modes of transport.
The next step will be to evaluate the possibility of conducting flights test on Aena facilities (subject to funding, availability of resources, permits to fly etc.) in order to proof the concept of operations.
The next step will be to evaluate the possibility of conducting flights test on Aena facilities (subject to funding, availability of resources, permits to fly etc.) in order to proof the concept of operations.
Based on this pilot study, the partnership aims to assess the next steps and possible future lines of collaboration in the UAM business in Spain. Future lines of work will be subject to strict assessment of the results of the pilot and the strategic alignment of each of the parties.
UrbanV and Volocopter have already partnered for the 2024 Italian UAM market launch in Rome and are now looking to strengthen their collaboration in Spain. Based on the combined expertise of the three companies, a CONOPS of use cases at target locations will be created as a blueprint, to later aid global commercial expansion.
For more information visit:
