To advance Skyports’ Agile Vertiport Network (AVN) strategy, the vertiport developer has partnered with vertical aviation specialists, Unified Aviation, to provide a cost-effective, versatile infrastructure solution to support air taxi flights.
The collaboration leverages Unified Aviation’s Modular Environmentally Sustainable Helipads (MESH) advanced landing platforms and Skyports’ expertise in vertiport development, planning, regulation and operations. It also enables Skyports to deploy take-off and landing infrastructure where and when needed, using prefabricated, modular, fast-build technology with integrated power, solar charging, lighting, safety, drainage and fire suppression features.
Skyports’ AVN will include vertiports as well as additional landing sites modified to environmental, network and customer required. Incorporating features such as passenger terminal, charging infrastructure and MRO, the principal vertiports will be situated at sites such as airports, shopping malls and metro stations. The peripheral landing sites will be situated in suburban, lower throughput or short-term demand locations and will feature the MESH system.
“Scalable, flexible and rapidly deployable vertiport infrastructure is critically important to accelerating Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) service roll-out, particularly in the early years of the industry,” said Duncan Walker, CEO, Skyports. “Our partnership with Unified Aviation brings specialised expertise in integrated heliport and vertiport design and training to reduce time to market and provide cost-effective, pre-certified landing sites. Our Agile Veritport Network strategy solves some of the complex considerations when developing AAM networks, providing the vertiport solutions for any given location.”
The innovative MESH system will be demonstrated at Unified Aviation’s Dubai South location, which will double as an operations staff training facility. The technology will then be rolled out globally with Skyports’ vertiport product, with various use cases, including ground, elevated and floating options.
Unified Aviation’s Managing Director, Mark Trotter, explained: “Our MESH system has been designed with the future in mind. It can cater for today’s helicopters and the future AAM ecosystem, enabling hybrid operations when needed. Our partnership with Skyports will help expand and further establish this innovative system going forward. MESH is built with sustainability in mind, using sustainable materials and the modular nature creates an excellent flexible and rapidly deployable solution.”
