Urban Air Ports founder Ricky Sandhu spoke to Mark Broadbent about plans for a new centre for eVTOL and drone operations in Coventry
With the growth of urban air mobility (UAM), aka advanced air mobility, infrastructure is more important than ever. Numerous developers are now in the process of preparing prototypes and planning operations (see From fringe to mainstream, page 92).
If there are to be small drones dropping off cargo and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxis transporting passengers within and between towns and cities, they will need places to operate from.
A practical demonstration of UAM’s potential is to take place in Coventry, with Urban Air Ports’ Air-One facility due to be established in the West Midlands city by the end of 2021. Ricky Sandhu, Urban Air Ports’ founder and executive chairman, told AIR International: “Come November, we will have designed, developed, fabricated, installed, verified and put into operation the world’s first fully operational piece of infrastructure of this kind.”
