The Jetsons may have come out in the 1960s, but in 2024, we are finally close to quickly traveling by air via electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. A recent market report from the Global Advanced/Urban Air Mobility Market Map team of AAM analysts has shared that companies around the world are gearing up for this transition into small sustainable mobility, laying plans to erect over 1,000 vertiports to support growing eVTOL networks that are inching closer to commercial operations.
While we’re still likely a couple of years from bonafide eVTOL air travel, the nascent clean mobility segment is growing and doing so quickly. eVTOLs, in general, have become a growing topic of interest across the EV industry. If you frequent Electrek, you’ve probably noticed that the coverage of the technology has increased tenfold in the past few years.
Every week, we are informed of a new aerial startup developing all-electric mobility technology. We have also covered several “veterans” in the young industry, reaching scaled production, completing manned test flights, and establishing partnerships all over the globe to implement the necessary eVTOL vertiports and charging infrastructure to enable full-fledged commercial flights.
Some of those companies include Archer Aviation, Lilium, and Joby Aviation, to name a few. The eVTOL industry is beginning to snowball, and a team of industry experts and consultants based around the world has compiled a new market map that supports that argument.
According to the report outlined below, a forecast of the global market map confirms at least 1,044 eVTOL vertiports in development that could be operational by 2028.
Report: eVTOL vertiports will continue to pop up worldwide
The full report, viewable here, was recently posted by the Global Advanced/Urban Air Mobility Market Map under Unmanned Publications Limited. The report includes both bottom-up site identification and top-down AAM development plans, including government publication of AAM regulations and certification standards, to provide accurate insight into the near-term global vertical port market.
According to the report, 1,044 vertiports are currently being planned for development between 2024 and 2028 worldwide. Still, several eVTOL operators remain implicit in their network launch plans and will significantly affect such aerial hubs coming to fruition. The report’s author, Philip Butterworth-Hayes, elaborated:
However, it is likely that eVTOL programme failures and regulatory delays will trim this total figure to a more likely total of 623. This is still a huge figure, given that this year it is likely that just 24 vertiports will be completed globally.
According to the forecast, only 366 of the 1,044 planned eVTOL vertiports have been contracted to named suppliers, costing an estimated $1.09 billion to build and equip them with the necessary AAM-focused technology, including chargers.
We recommend checking out the full eVTOL vertiport report as it offers an exciting insight into a young but fast-moving new air mobility segment, including a global market directory of each program that identifies each of the respective partners involved in each project.
The report also features a comprehensive country-by-country guide to AAM regulatory and market development approaches taken by national and regional governments, along with each region’s plans to advance eVTOL-based services.
We’ve seen regions like the United Arab Emirates, China, and Korea put funding and research into commercial eVTOL operations, such as air taxi networks. Still, the US has several startups looking to establish their services in North America in congested coastal cities like Los Angeles and Miami.
What do you think? Will we be able to take an eVTOL air taxi ride to the airport or the other side of town by 2028? Or will it take more time to get this nascent industry regulated to the point that people feel safe enough to test it out?