Photo: HCA Airport
Dedicated airports for electric air taxis (known as vertiports) are still hard to imagine, but they could become part of our daily reality as soon as 2025. This seems to be the magic number on everyone’s lips in the industry. Denmark’s deadline isn’t that bold, because it arrived a bit late to the party, but its plans sound very exciting.
If railway stations sound like a boring thing from the past, here’s something that could transform them into one of the most futuristic urban spots – air taxis. These electric aircraft could use the rooftops of railway stations as a landing pad. Sounds farfetched? Odense, a city in Denmark, is planning to do precisely that for the Odense Banegard Center.
This is part of a larger AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) project in Denmark, where it would be the first of its kind. European vertiport plans are currently underway in places like Germany, Italy, and France. Now, Denmark has joined the club, through a collaboration between the HCA Airport (in Odense) and Copenhagen Helicopter.
HCA Airport officials believe that the idea of connecting rail travel with air taxi transportation in this area could come to life in just a few years. This is how things would go: folks arriving at the Odense Railway Station could take an air taxi from there, and fly to Copenhagen faster and with no emissions. Gradually, Odense could use air taxis to connect to other cities as well, and even expand to international flights to neighboring countries.
There’s no time to waste, since the Danish government also expects to reach the universal goal of 100% zero-emission transport by the end of the decade.
The first steps will be taken as soon as this summer, when the two partners plan to carry out the first air taxi flights. Unlike most vertiport-related projects, this one doesn’t include joining forces with a specific eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) manufacturer. At the moment, it’s still unclear which air taxi companies will be the ones to bring AAM services to this country.
But the HCA Airport did mention that it hopes to attract foreign AAM players, which also includes flying taxi manufacturers. Copenhagen Helicopters, who is one of the most active AAM supporters in Denmark, also sees great potential for local air taxi services.
It estimates that by 2035, flying taxis could be transporting more than 80,000 passengers per day. In addition to alleviating traffic and helping people get faster to their destinations, this would also help to eliminate more than 100,000 tons of CO2 each year.
Until then, the Odense Banegard Center is gearing up to provide the first landing pad for air taxi services, paving the way for future vertiports.
This is part of a larger AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) project in Denmark, where it would be the first of its kind. European vertiport plans are currently underway in places like Germany, Italy, and France. Now, Denmark has joined the club, through a collaboration between the HCA Airport (in Odense) and Copenhagen Helicopter.
HCA Airport officials believe that the idea of connecting rail travel with air taxi transportation in this area could come to life in just a few years. This is how things would go: folks arriving at the Odense Railway Station could take an air taxi from there, and fly to Copenhagen faster and with no emissions. Gradually, Odense could use air taxis to connect to other cities as well, and even expand to international flights to neighboring countries.
There’s no time to waste, since the Danish government also expects to reach the universal goal of 100% zero-emission transport by the end of the decade.
The first steps will be taken as soon as this summer, when the two partners plan to carry out the first air taxi flights. Unlike most vertiport-related projects, this one doesn’t include joining forces with a specific eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) manufacturer. At the moment, it’s still unclear which air taxi companies will be the ones to bring AAM services to this country.
But the HCA Airport did mention that it hopes to attract foreign AAM players, which also includes flying taxi manufacturers. Copenhagen Helicopters, who is one of the most active AAM supporters in Denmark, also sees great potential for local air taxi services.
It estimates that by 2035, flying taxis could be transporting more than 80,000 passengers per day. In addition to alleviating traffic and helping people get faster to their destinations, this would also help to eliminate more than 100,000 tons of CO2 each year.
Until then, the Odense Banegard Center is gearing up to provide the first landing pad for air taxi services, paving the way for future vertiports.
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