FutureFlight
Ground Infrastructure Experts Wrestle With Vertiport Challenges
Commercial eVTOL aircraft services could require many thousands of vertiports in cities and communities around the world, and that will require a huge planning task, according to companies preparing the way.
Lilium vertiport
The new Lake Nona community near Orlando, Florida, could be among the first communities to have eVTOL commercial flights, with Lilium and its infrastructure partner Ferrovial planning a network of vertiports across the state. (Image: Lilium)

In October, Ferrovial announced plans to build a network of 25 vertiports across the UK in partnership with eVTOL aircraft developer Vertical Aerospace. This comes on the heels of the airports, highways, and railway group’s February 2021 announcement earlier about its plans to develop a network of 20 vertiports in Spain, where the company is based. Meanwhile, in Florida, it is working with Lilium to develop another network of vertiports to support the German company’s plans to launch commercial eVTOL flights across the most populous parts of the country from 2025.

The market for building and running the ground infrastructure that will be critical to the success of the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) market is potentially vast, and Ferrovial is already facing competition from rival groups such as Skyports. The UK-based group, which is already involved in commercial drone operations and has a partnership with eVTOL developer Volocopter, is working on plans for vertiports in locations including Singapore, Los Angeles, and London, as well as in Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.