There are more solutions than obstacles, Nicolas Zart
If words like advanced air mobility, urban air mobility, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and vertiports with their respective acronyms, AAM and UAM, and eVTOL confuse you, then you’ve come to the right place.
With twenty years of experience as a consultant and journalist in the electric mobility industries, I’ve been privileged with a front-view seat of this once-in-a-lifetime mobility revolution we call the electric drive. But if electric vehicles (#EV) are becoming more common on the road, electric aircraft will surprise you even more.
Would you believe they fly today? Would you believe I’ve seen several already fly and we are working on their infrastructure?
We created Electric Air Mobility, LLC as a consulting group bringing together well-established aviation companies with decades of experience with a few highly innovative startups to bring airports, heliports, and municipalities everything needed to design and operate vertiport ecosystems.
This is a series of articles explaining what AAM is and what you should know. Today, we look at what vertiport where these electric aircraft will fly from. We will break down vertiports according to their four pillars, energy, vertipad/eSTOL port, air traffic management, and finally terminals in a two-part miniseries. We’ll start with the three types of vertiports currently worked on.
In our next article, we’ll look into the various types of aircraft designed for AAM.
See here for our what is advanced air mobility article before you read this.
What is a Vertiport? Part 1
Simply put a vertiport is a modernized heliport where eVTOLs take off and land from. Essentially, it is a place with a terminal greeting passengers where they will walk to a take-off area called a vertipad or an eSTOL port in some cases. Vertipads are like helipads. They are the take-off and landing pads where these electric aircraft can take off from. From there, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) or electric short take-off and landing (eSTOL) aircraft will bring you a short hop away to another vertiport, vertistop, or vertihub. What differentiates a vertiport from a heliport or most airports is that they will host various energies, electricity, hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and their storage. It also includes crewed and uncrewed aircraft commonly referred to respectively as eVTOL and eSTOL, and autonomous drones. But wait, there’s a lot more to vertiports.
There are three primary types of vertiports, each varying in size and capacity:
- Vertistop: The smallest type of vertiport, similar to a bus stop shelter or a small train stop. Vertistops are designed for quick hop-on and hop-off operations, with limited amenities. Think of a single bus stop shelter with a bench, but more elaborate with weather protection. Think also of a metro stop or a small train stop. They might or might not have a small terminal, and maybe no amenities. Vertistops are like grass-field airports designed as hop-on and off vertiports.
- Vertiport: A mid-sized vertiport with fueling and charging capacity, air traffic control capabilities, and a single terminal. Vertiports offer more amenities than vertistops, including security and operational personnel. Next, we have vertiports proper. They are bigger than a vertistop and have fueling and charging capacity. Since vertiports will operate electric aircraft, they use charging stations, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) for hybrid aircraft, as well as storage for electricity, hydrogen, and SAF. Vertiports will have one terminal. They will also have air traffic control capacities, as well as operation systems, just like a secondary airport or heliport.
- Vertihub: The largest type of vertiport, similar to a major airport or train station. Vertihubs serve as hubs, connecting multiple vertiports and vertistops, with multiple terminals and a wide range of amenities, including entertainment centers, medical facilities, and shopping areas. Vertihubs will be similar to a bigger airport operating as a hub and spoke. If you’ve traveled through LAX, Atlanta, New York, Dubai, or any big international airport, these big airports connect long-haul airplanes with local regional flights as well as with other long-haul destinations. Vertihubs will connect with other vertihubs and vertiports as well as vertistops. They will have one or more terminals with more amenities than vertiports. Ideally, vertihubs will grow into mini-cities with their entertainment centers and why not, doctor offices and grocery shops. They will have several charging stations and electric storage. They will also create and store hydrogen, as well as store SAF. We foresee vertihubs to include an MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) center working to ensure the aircraft’s airworthiness.
Key Differences Between Vertiports
The primary differences between vertiports lie in their energy and air traffic management capabilities. Vertistops typically do not require air traffic management, leaving this function to larger vertiports and vertihubs. The distinction between vertiports can be likened to the difference between a small train station and a major transportation hub. Think of the difference between a big train station such as the London Waterloo station, Paris Gare du Nord, Penn Station in New York City, or the Tokyo Station. Vertistops are small vertiports that you hop on and off, while vertiports are bigger, and the biggest vertihubs will connect several vertiports and vertistops.
Vertiports are Coming Near You
As the aviation industry continues to evolve, vertiports are poised to play a critical role in the development of advanced air mobility. With their ability to accommodate eVTOL aircraft and provide a range of amenities, vertiports are set to revolutionize the way we travel. In our next article, we will explore the four pillars of vertiport operations, including energy, vertipad/eSTOL port, air traffic management, and terminals.