Skyportz secures orders for eVTOL vertipad concept

Skyportz has secured three orders for more than 1,000 units of its new eVTOL vertipad concept following its announcement at last month’s Farnborough Airshow.

The modular vertipad solution can be deployed on existing airport land or on new vertiport sites. Skyportz says the system addresses issues including passenger safety, downwash, outwash, battery fires, power generation and storage.

“The patented design has not been released publicly as we are still tweaking our prototype,” said Skyportz CEO Clem Newton-Brown. “However, we have been happy to share the design with industry colleagues under non-disclosure agreement and the response has been incredible. You can actually see the light bulbs going on as people realise we have cracked the nut of mass production of a vertipad product that is a vast improvement on a circle painted on a slab of concrete.”

The initial orders have come from infrastructure investors and an aircraft OEM. Newton-Brown said he expects Skyportz will be a supplier to other vertiport companies.

“With our product you will be able to establish operations safely on tighter sites or on larger sites, fit more landing pads. Profitable operations are going to need low capital costs and high throughput. You can do the sums on any site to calculate the capex savings utilising our product,” added Newton-Brown.

Skyportz are offering their terminal designs in partnership with Contreras Earl Architecture. The company also plans to create an entry level package.

“The mass vertiport infrastructure is the missing piece of the puzzle for this industry. Without new vertiport landing sites in places people want to go, the aircraft will never fulfil their potential. The elephant in the room is that no-one wants to pay millions of dollars for each vertiport.” said Newton-Brown.