World’s first airport for flying cars opens in UK

UK developer Urban-Air Port has opened the world’s first airport for electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), according to a new report. 

Called Air-One, the facility will serve as a hub for passenger air taxis, autonomous delivery drones, disaster emergency aid, and defense operations teams, reported DesignTaxi.

Air-One, which is funded by the UK government, isn’t fully functioning yet. It’s currently stationed in Coventry, England, where it will stay for at least a month to demonstrate how air mobility vehicles can successfully reduce air pollution and congestion, paving the way for an emission-free future of flying transportation.

Leading industry experts pointed out that with eVTOLs moving into the horizon, flying cars, air taxis, and delivery drones have got to find a place to park.

Luckily, engineers are already working to ensure road hogs don’t repeat their offenses with winged cars, they stated.  

When it leaves Coventry, Air-One will be transported to other sites locally and internationally for further piloting. 

"The opening of Air-One is a momentous moment—the starting gun for a new age of transport, an age of zero-emission, congestion-free travel between and within cities that will make people healthier, happier, and more connected than ever before," remarked Urban Air-Port Founder Ricky Sandhu.

"Cars have roads. Trains have rails. Planes have airports. Now, eVTOLs have an Urban-Air Port," he added.

A first-of-its-kind hub, Air-One will serve as a blueprint for over 200 'vertiports' being planned around the world, including the West Midlands, London, Los Angeles, Australia, South Korea, France, Germany, Scandinavia, and Southeast Asia, said the DesignTaxi report.

There are no official lounges or coffee shops, at least for now. Instead, the airport offers essentials like eVTOL-charging facilities, command and control, and cargo loading areas, it added.

Source: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/LIFE_395984.html