Embraer's Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions and leading vertiport company Skyports have formed a partnership to develop UAM solutions, with a focus on vehicle-vertiport operations in early adopter markets in Asia and the Americas.

The agreement extends the relationship between the two organisations, which began in early 2020 while Eve was incubated at EmbraerX. As UAM nears initial launch in multiple markets around the world, the companies will use Eve's zero-emission and low noise eVTOL vehicle, urban air traffic management (UATM) software and UAM services to develop a concept of operations that will inform operational procedures, as well as vehicle and services development. Together, the companies aim to rapidly advance and disrupt the industry by bringing Eve's innovative eVTOL vehicle to the market, where passengers will experience the future of electric transportation and a new model of sustainable mobility.

As part of this collaboration, Skyports will contribute to a market readiness exercise and a vehicle concept of operation study in Brazil, furthering Eve's development of the UAM market in the region. The organisations have already worked together developing a concept of operations with Airservices Australia and are currently collaborating to develop UAM operations in the UK.

Skyports CEO Duncan Walker says: “Our partnership with Eve paves the way for rapid innovation in UAM, accelerating innovation to meet the growing demand for eVTOL services. We are looking forward to the expanded partnership, unlocking new opportunities in this fast-growing market.”

Eve president and CEO André Stein adds: “In transition to a low carbon economy, the aerospace industry depends on disruptive innovation to create a more sustainable future. With urban air mobility, we have a unique opportunity to co-create vertiports, vehicles and operation, designing a new and optimised mobility ecosystem from the ground up. We are thrilled to have Skyports in this journey to develop UAM solutions in Asia and the Americas, bringing us a step closer in providing commuters and travellers with an entirely new, zero-emission experience.”

Skyports was the first to build a full-scale passenger air taxi vertiport, the take-off and landing infrastructure for eVTOL aircraft, which was launched as part of a trial that took place in Singapore in 2019. In addition to the Americas and Asia, Skyports currently has infrastructure projects in development in Europe and the Middle East.