Urban-Air Port (UAP), the British start-up leading the charge in the design and manufacture of vertiports for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) have announced the latest addition to their world-class partner ecosystem: Skyroads, a Germany based technology company who are developing automated airspace management and guidance systems.

With UAP building the essential infrastructure and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) designing and testing eVTOLs at an accelerated rate, the need for safely managed enroute navigation and terminal procedures, conforming to present and upcoming regulatory rules, are now a priority. The partnership between UAP and Skyroads will serve to address this, through a collaborative effort on developing a ConOps (Concept of Operations) – a blueprint for how vertiports and drones will interact through a UATM system – “building roads in the sky” – as per the Skyroads mission statement, enabling safe passenger flights and transport of cargo via highly automated and eventually autonomous delivery drones.

UAP and Skyroads will utilise the latest technology to develop “digital twins” – a dynamic virtual copy of the interaction between vertiport and vehicle that behaves identically to a real-world counterpart. This simulation will enable decision-making in the design process through analysis and insight, without the need for physical construction.

As part of their commitment to the European Commission’s SESAR 3 work programme, UAP and Skyroads will enter into a discussion regarding concepts for the optimisation of vertiport resource utilisation (the optimisation of take-offs and landings according to the parameters provided by the vertiport), and the handling of “non-nominal” events (e.g. short term plan changes, maintenance related availability and performance issues, weather challenges etc).

Urban-Air Port Founder & Executive Chairman Ricky Sandhu (left), with CFO Adrian Zanelli (right) and Achim Kostron, CCO of Skyroads (centre) at the Air One event in April 2022. Copyright © Urban-Air Port®. All Rights Reserved

UAP’s groundbreaking Air One event in Coventry recently concluded, however the infrastructure and technology demonstrated will now inform the next generation of vertiport construction and eVTOL operational testing. The knowledge shared between UAP and Skyroads will pave the way for future demonstration projects in the UK and potential sites in Germany and world-wide. The development of these PoCs will unlock the opportunity to work with OEMS and aircraft manufacturers including UAP’s partner, Supernal, who are currently developing the S-A1 air taxi, showcased as a full-scale model at the Air One event.