Singapore seems increasingly likely to see the world’s first eVTOL aircraft taxi operations, with companies working to establish services now indicating that these will start no later than 2023, and perhaps sooner. EHang is being no less bullish about when it expects to begin commercial operations with its EH216 vehicle in Chinese cities and says they could start next year. However, 2024 is now viewed as the more likely launch date for U.S. rivals Joby and Archer in locations such as Los Angeles and Miami.
Ground infrastructure specialist Skyports is working closely with eVTOL developer Volocopter and local authorities in Singapore to establish the first permanent vertiport in the Southeast Asian city-state. In October 2019, the two companies set up a proof-of-concept vertiport, branded VoloPort, in Singapore’s Marina Bay area as the base for flight demonstrations of Volocopter 2X prototype aircraft.
