Australian AAM infrastructure developer Skyportz is to launch a network of electric air taxi hubs, the first of which will service the 2032 Olympic games in Brisbane. Speaking at October’s Air Taxi World Congress in London, CEO Clem Newton-Brown said that the first facility will be built at the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence (AACME) in Moreton Bay, Brisbane in 2023. Eventually the company will develop mini airports in new locations in and around other cities and regional centres.

“Skyportz has been accumulating sites in Australia since 2018 and we now have over 400 property partners ready to build out a Skyportz network,” says Newton-Brown. “There is strong political support to develop a new era in clean, green electric aviation in Australia. However we are waiting on federal standards and new state regulations to be developed before we can proceed to building a network. For this reason we are focusing initially on existing aviation infrastructure and places where it is possible to get a permit for a helipad, which can transition into a future Skyportz. The AACME site was already proposing a helipad so this partnership has enabled us to bring forward our plans.”

Of an industry with more than 300 electric air taxis start ups around the world and investment exceeding $8 billion, Newton-Brown adds: “Without a Skyportz landing site network these aircraft are not going to be able to realise their full potential. Our networks around the world will be available for all air taxi entrants, but our first partner is the very exciting Electra.aero aircraft from the US.”

Skyportz has ordered up to 100 hybrid-electric fixed wing Electra eSTOL aircraft to directly connect city centres or dispersed logistics facilities and deliver cargo to remote regions. The companies are exploring opportunities in Australia for early trials leveraging Electra's full-scale technology demonstrator, which enters flight testing in the US in 2022. Electra will initially carry up to seven passengers plus pilot, or 1800 lbs of cargo, up to 500 miles in all weather conditions. It can take off and land in just 100 ft and has in-flight battery recharging.

The AAMCE will establish a facility just north of Brisbane, focused on the fully integrated commercialisation of intellectual property developed and manufactured in Australia for global export. It proposes to rapidly establish sovereign capabilities across the country's most critical sectors such as defence, space and medical.

"We are particularly excited to be designing the first Australian Skyportz here in Brisbane as part of the AAMCE. To us it makes perfect sense that the most advanced manufacturing centre in Australia should include the most advanced transport system possible in its design. Brisbane is busily preparing for the Olympic Games in 2032, which will provide a great opportunity for the city to embrace a new form of transportation and showcase it to the world,” says AAMCE director Ty Hermans. “The AAMCE site is perfectly suited to become a major transport hub and support the future of air mobility. We are in the heart of the Moreton Bay region, just metres from a major metro linked train station, a leading Australian University and the most advanced manufacturing and commercialisation centre in the country, which is attracting some of the worlds greatest companies.This will put Australia on the map, and we are very proud to be a partner of Skyportz in establishing this capability. We expect that by 2032 we should have a well established electric air taxi service in Brisbane if we get the support of all levels of government.”