Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S airport operator Aena will supervise ‘flying taxi’ tests involving electrical vertical take-off and landing aircraft known as eVTOL.
The demonstration flights will take place between Palma and Menorca airports in the Balearic Islands and the other will be between Malaga and Granada airports in Andalucia.
The flights will enable procedures and standards to be set up for these types of services to be set up in Spain.
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Aena’s Director of Innovation and Customer Experience, Luis Cañon, said: “We want these flights become a reality by the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.”
“We are laying the foundations to be able to allow this type of servie to be integrated with airports and commercial operators,” he added.
Speaking at the Global Mobility Call congress in Madrid, the head of Crisalion Mobility, Juan Manuel Cordoves, said that urban air mobility will account for an overall share of 30% in the flight market by 2030.
“It will become a reality in Europe within three to five years. with interested European manufacturers and several pilot projects already underway,” he stated.
Besides taking passengers, eVTOL services have potential to help during medical emergencies or transporting cargo.
The iJET Aviation CEO, Javier Barriga, described eVTOL as a ‘winning bet’.
“It will be a reality in the near future because it takes the best of advanced technology and other existing forms of mobility while identifying the main challenges that will generate demand as well as offering security to generate social acceptance,” he predicted.
