LONDON: First fully operational airport for flying cars will thrust the English city of Coventry into the future later this year.
Urban Air-Port founder and executive chairman Ricky Sandhu told media, “With UK government backing and Hyundai Motor Group’s backing we’ll be realizing the first fully operational airport in the world.”
While there has been progressing in developing flying cars, Sandhu said the infrastructure was the missing piece. “You can’t get off the train or get on the train unless you get to the train station so that supporting ground infrastructure is absolutely key,” he added.
Urban-Air Port, a British-based start-up, has partnered with car giant Hyundai Motor to develop the infrastructure need for when flying cars take to the skies to ferry around people and goods.
From November, visitors to Coventry will be able to see what a flying car airport looks like and see a passenger-carrying drone and an operational electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle on the landing pad.
Urban-Air Port was selected by a government program aimed at developing zero-emission flying and new air vehicles, winning a 1.2-million-pound ($1.65-million) grant to help fund the temporary installation of the airport in Coventry city center.
Uber and Hyundai in January 2020 had announced plans to develop taxis of the future that will fly people to their destinations.
The US ride-hailing firm and Korean auto company unveiled a concept electric aircraft at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which is designed to fly on trips of up to 60 miles and has a cruising speed of up to 180 miles per hour.
In a joint statement made in Vegas last year, the two parties said: ‘Hyundai will produce and deploy the air vehicles, and Uber will provide airspace support services, connections to ground transportation, and customer interfaces through an aerial rideshare network.’
