Photo: VPorts
Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an impressive number of electric aircraft emerge, each claiming to be the most innovative, powerful and reliable. But even the best eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) would mean nothing without the supporting infrastructure.
If you thought that developing eVTOLs that are actually good is hard, the complex task of building the infrastructure comes with bigger challenges.
When speaking of AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) most of us tend to focus on the aircraft, because that’s the most interesting part usually. But this concept is very complex, including things like regulations, financial aspects, vertiports, and the delicate issue of making all of that work together with conventional flight operations.
There are a few companies on their way to building vertiports in different parts of the world, but one that has recently joined the club is ready for a bold step. Simply called Vports, this Quebec-based startup wants to develop AAM corridors between the U.S. and Canada. This would be a first in the industry.
This pioneering infrastructure would be used for international cargo transportation with eVTOLs. It would also act as a sort of experiment for the different players involved in these operations, because it would allow them to test different aspects of AAM. And there are plenty of things that need to be tested, from aircraft charging to safety protocols and urban integration.
VPorts is one of the members of the larger consortium that signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the design, construction, and operation of these corridors. The consortium includes big players, such as Aero Montreal, Innovitech, and the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR). Of course, they will also work together with the aviation authorities in both states.
The future corridors will mainly be used by the members of the consortium, but according to VPorts, they are open to all the manufacturers that want to conduct flight tests for their eVTOLs. The first test flights on these AAM corridors are set to take place as soon as next year.
When speaking of AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) most of us tend to focus on the aircraft, because that’s the most interesting part usually. But this concept is very complex, including things like regulations, financial aspects, vertiports, and the delicate issue of making all of that work together with conventional flight operations.
There are a few companies on their way to building vertiports in different parts of the world, but one that has recently joined the club is ready for a bold step. Simply called Vports, this Quebec-based startup wants to develop AAM corridors between the U.S. and Canada. This would be a first in the industry.
This pioneering infrastructure would be used for international cargo transportation with eVTOLs. It would also act as a sort of experiment for the different players involved in these operations, because it would allow them to test different aspects of AAM. And there are plenty of things that need to be tested, from aircraft charging to safety protocols and urban integration.
VPorts is one of the members of the larger consortium that signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the design, construction, and operation of these corridors. The consortium includes big players, such as Aero Montreal, Innovitech, and the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR). Of course, they will also work together with the aviation authorities in both states.
The future corridors will mainly be used by the members of the consortium, but according to VPorts, they are open to all the manufacturers that want to conduct flight tests for their eVTOLs. The first test flights on these AAM corridors are set to take place as soon as next year.
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