Flying taxi company Lilium has signed an agreement with Spanish contractor Ferrovial to build at least 10 "vertiports" in Florida’s major cities for Lilium’s zero-carbon, electric vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) jets.
Vertiports will handle Lilium’s five-seater craft, which travel at 300km/h and can go 300km on a single charge. VTOL jets need no runways, and their silence is suited to urban areas.
The plan is to have a vertiport within 30 minutes of each of Florida’s nearly 20 million people.
And the 140 million people who visit the state each year would have "a high-speed option available to travel to their destinations", Lilium said.
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"Our partnership with Ferrovial to develop flight infrastructure, is a critical step in delivering the potential of regional air mobility to provide high speed, affordable, emissions-free travel to millions of people," said Lilium chief executive and co-founder Daniel Wiegand.
Ferrovial will be involved in the conceptualisation, design and construction of the infrastructure. The Madrid-based company, which manages $10bn in assets in the US, has a long track record in the aviation sector, including stakes in a number of UK airports.
In November, Lilium said it planned to build its first vertiport in Orlando. Wednesday’s announcement expands on this, with the first location in southern Florida to be announced in the spring.
Image: A rendering of a future vertiport (Lilium)
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