The aircraft exist. The Joby S4 has completed thousands of test flights. Archer Aviation has FAA certification progress that would have seemed implausible five years ago. Lilium, despite its financial turbulence, proved the aerodynamic case for electric vertical take-off and landing at scale.
Urban air mobility — the ability to move between city centres, private terminals, and yacht marinas in a quiet, electric aircraft that requires no runway — is no longer a speculative technology. It is an engineering and infrastructure problem. And infrastructure problems, when sufficient capital is applied to them, tend to resolve.
For principals who already use helicopters for the final mile between private jet and yacht or estate, the implications are significant. The eVTOL replacing the helicopter is not simply a cleaner version of the same service. It is quieter — dramatically so — which means residential landing clearances that were impossible for rotary aircraft become viable. It is cheaper to operate, which changes the economics of positioning. And it is, in the urban context, faster door-to-door than any ground vehicle regardless of specification.
The vertiport infrastructure is the unresolved question. Several major European cities are ahead of schedule. Others are not.
The principals building mobility programmes today would be prudent to be watching this space with more than casual interest. The final mile is about to get significantly shorter.
Curated by: Hype Luxury
