Skyports Infrastructure to built ‘UK’s first vertiport’ air taxi test facility

UK drone services and air taxi infrastructure specialist Skyports says it has been commissioned to create “the UK’s first vertiport testbed” at a specialized facility about 65 miles northwest of London.

The Skyports Infrastructure vertiport design, conception, and construction unit said it had been tapped to oversee the test air taxi terminal at Bicester Motion, a research, development, and business park for future mobility activity. The 444-acre estate will host a compact version of a passenger, takeoff, landing, and recharging hub, extending Skyports’ work overseeing similar test facilities elsewhere in the world. 

The Skyports vertiport will be operated as part of the Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium, and backed by Innovate UK’s Future Flight Challenge. It will specifically act as a key node for early vertiport network planning, air taxi demonstrations, the Consortium’s wider testing program, as well as public and stakeholder engagement efforts. 

As part of that, UK air taxi developer Vertical Aerospace will use the adjacent airfield to conduct test and demonstration flights, with Skyports’ vertiport providing visitors a look and feel of what passenger experience will be like. 

The opening date is slated for the end of the year – about the same time the UK expects initial air taxi flight testing to begin.

In creating and operating the vertiport, Skyports will draw on its previous experience in air taxi preparations around the world. Those include, its 2022 “Living Lab” terminal in the US with aircraft developer Joby, and the deal the two companies signed last month with authorities in Dubai to ready next generation aircraft services and infrastructure in the emirate. 

Skyports has also played a central role in work to prepare what’s expected to be the world’s first air taxi flights during the Summer Olympics in Paris later this year. It explained the location of the Bicester Motion vertiport in part as an attempt to demonstrate the time savings of air service to London – currently a 1:40 hour road trip expected to be cut to just 25 minutes by battery-driven plane.

“Our vertiport at Bicester Motion is ideally located to serve as a central hub for the UK’s advanced air mobility industry,” said Duncan Walker, Skyports’ chief executive officer. “The facility will be employed by Skyports and our strategic partners to test and refine all aspects of our ground technology and operations within a UK context. This will also be a key location for early demonstration flights in the UK and will help to pave the way for permanent operations in the future.”