World’s first ‘airport for flying cars’ to be built in Coventry

Urban Air Port's hub for air taxis and autonomous delivery drones

Credit: Urban Air Port

The world’s first fully-operational airport for flying taxis is due to launch in Coventry later this year, as companies gear up for tests of the vehicles as soon as 2023. 

Urban Air Port has received government funding to build the hub for air taxis and autonomous delivery drones in the city, which passengers will be able to use in a similar way to airports for planes and which will also charge and maintain the electric vehicles. 

It said it chose Coventry for the first site given its location in the heart of the UK, meaning there is easy access to most parts of the country within four hours.

The airport will be able to support any electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and will also be built so it is easy to move to alternative sites.

It will be the first fully operational airport for air taxis when it is unveiled during Coventry’s UK city of culture celebrations this year.

There have been prototype launches by other companies in other cities. In 2019, Skyports unveiled a prototype of its vertiport in Singapore — a city which has been seen at the cutting edge of air taxis.

In Miami, meanwhile, one residential tower designed a sky deck that could later be modified to turn it into a skyport and Uber has also released skyport designs for cities including Melbourne and Dallas. 

Urban Air Port said it was in talks with cities across the UK and in other countries over installing their own urban airports, and had kicked off discussions with investors over rapid commercialisation. 

Development of the sites is being supported by Hyundai, which is planning to have its own flying taxis by 2028. The £1.2m of government funding came from Innovate UK’s "Future of Flight Challenge". 

Air taxis | Models in development

Separately on Wednesday, British start-up, Vertical Aerospace, said it had also been handed a grant to look into launching an air taxi service in the South West of the UK. Over the next 18 months, Vertical Aerospace will be working with Atkins to assess how much demand there would be these taxis. 

James Richmond, the advanced air mobility lead at Atkins, said: "This an important and tangible step towards making Advanced Air Mobility a reality, and by demonstrating that we can provide a case for air taxis, we could begin trialling these services as early as 2023.”

Skyports, the company which worked on the hub in Singapore, is working with Atkins to design and develop an airport for this project, whilst electric aircraft maker Vertical Aerospace will work on how the air taxis could function. 

Tim Bowles, the West of England major, said: “I want to bring the jobs of the future to the West of England and get our region moving. This air taxi trial brings both those ambitions together and is a significant step in cementing the UK and the West of England as leaders in air taxis."