The Moodie Davitt Report launches newsletter on brave new world of urban air mobility

INTERNATIONAL. The Moodie Davitt Report today announces a new publication, the digital Urban Air Mobility Newsletter. It is dedicated to an industry which has emerged as one of the most exciting and high-potential elements of the modern global aviation sector.

In 2021, we exclusively broke the news in the travel retail media about the potential scale of the urban air mobility infrastructure revolution in air travel. The infrastructure will host future electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Vertiports, such as this one being developed by Urban-Air Port, will host environmentally-friendly electric aircraft and will be associated with commercial opportunities for brands and retailers

Thousands of mini-airports to enable this form of transport are set to spring up across the world based on a versatile and compact physical framework which is being developed by the likes of British start-up Urban-Air Port (UAP) and other industry players such as Ferrovial (see our story here) and Skyports.

“Given the long-term potential of vertiports, how they are likely to integrate with the traditional airports, and the commercial elements that will arise from them, we see this emerging market as a natural fit for our existing readers. It will also help us reach a new audience that is following the subject of  urban air mobility” – The Moodie Davitt Report Senior Business Editor Mark Lane

In an interview last year with The Moodie Davitt Report, UAP Founder and Chairman Ricky Sandhu said that we could see more than 200 of these mini-airports in a city such as London within the next ten years. It opened our eyes to an industry which has set in motion a global transport infrastructure movement designed to unlock the potential of sustainable urban air mobility.

Supernal, a spin-out business from the South Korean automotive giant Hyundai, has just announced a new investment in the ground infrastructure being developed by Urban-Air Port

This form of travel will facilitate seamless passenger journeys and deliveries, while reducing congestion, cutting air pollution and decarbonising transport.

The infrastructure behind urban air mobility has become known as the ‘vertiport’, which will host future eVTOL aircraft. More than US$5 billion in investment was announced for the development of eVTOL vehicles last year alone, with the leading manufacturers pointing to 2024 as the year we will see the first commercial flights.

AGS Airports shareholder Ferrovial – a leading global infrastructure operator – has announced plans to deploy a network of more than 25 vertiports in the UK. Here is an artist’s impression of how one of them might look.

Scale and adoption, however, is likely to take much longer. Much of the new content to appear on The Moodie Davitt Report will focus on these challenges, as the urban air mobility industry continues on its path to becoming a key component of an environmentally-friendly transport infrastructure.

Start-ups in the eVTOL space such as UAP (see our story on the company’s recent investment from Hyundai spin-out business Supernal here), Archer Aviation, Heart Aerospace, Joby Aviation, Vertical Aerospace, Wisk, Lilium and Volocopter are some of the main emerging names in the urban air mobility sector.

Vertiports will house retail opportunities, such as this one visualised by Urban-Air Port

These companies have announced partnerships with players in the established aviation industry such as American Airlines, United Airlines, Boeing, Virgin Atlantic, Azul, Groupe ADP, Fraport and Munich Airport International (see our story on the latter’s link up with UAP here).

These partnerships and the billions of dollars involved have fuelled the prediction that the urban air mobility market will grow by +9% annually, reaching US$12.7 billion by 2027 and up to US$1 trillion in the next 20 years.

Joby Aviation, the Californian venture capital-backed aerospace company, is one of the early trailblazers in the development of eVTOL aircraft (Image: Joby Aviation)

The Moodie Davitt Report Senior Business Editor Mark Lane will head our urban air mobility and vertiports coverage. He said: “There is no question that this is one of the most exciting industries in the world right now, with huge potential and so many aspects to cover. It has many synergies to the main subjects we already cover extensively on The Moodie Davitt Report.

“One of the most notable things about this sector is the growing number of partnerships between eVTOL aircraft developers and related infrastructure developers and some of the big names we are familiar with from the traditional global aviation industry. As with our existing coverage, much of our content will focus on collaborations of this nature.

One of the early focuses of The Moodie Davitt Report’s coverage of the urban air mobility market will be the launch of UAP’s Urban-Air Port Air One, the world-first fully-operational hub for future electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The Moodie Davitt Report will be in attendance as it opens for public visitation in the UK city of Coventry on 25 April, with a demonstration event which will run through to 15 May.

“Given the long-term potential of vertiports, how they are likely to integrate with the traditional airports, and the commercial elements that will arise from them, we see this emerging market as a natural fit for our existing readers. It will also help us reach a brand new audience that is following the subject of urban air mobility.

“We look forward to welcoming subscribers to the newsletter and bringing you the stories that matter about this rapidly-developing industry.”

Read our recent in-depth interview with Urban-Air Port Founder and Executive Chairman Ricky Sandhu on the potential for vertiports and the commercial opportunities that will arise from them here.

NOTE: To subscribe free of charge to our new publication, please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com headed ‘Advanced Air Mobility Newsletter’. All stories will be permanently archived on a dedicated page on our website. For sponsorship and content opportunities, please email Mark@MoodieDavittReport.com.

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