Skyportz released the design for the first vertiport in Australia to service the emerging electric air taxi industry at the AAUS annual Advanced Air Mobility summit in Melbourne, yesterday.

The vertiport will be located at Caribbean Park in Melbourne’s east, the fastest growing business precinct outside of the Melbourne CBD.

Caribbean Park and Skyportz have worked with Contreras Earl Architects, to70 aviation, ARUP and Microflite to come up with a practical, modular design to satisfy operational requirements to operate as a vertiport for Advanced Air Mobility.

“With the development of a vertiport in a business park we are breaking the nexus between aviation and airports. For this industry to succeed it needs to have policy makers pushing the envelope to support new “mini airports” in locations people want to go”, said Clem Newton-Brown, CEO of Skyportz.

“However community support is going to be the key to the development of these services. The community is going to have to see the benefits”

“Electric air taxis will be a new era in aviation where clean, green and quiet small aircraft can take people to places they want to go – be it work or leisure. The Caribbean Park vertiport is the first in a network of sites we will establish in advance of the aircraft becoming operational” said Newton-Brown.

Caribbean Park Director, Ben Spooner said “We are strategically and ideally placed to host the first Skyportz in Australia and we hope that in time, a variety of new and emerging businesses take advantage of this leading infrastructure. Caribbean Park is the largest and fastest growing business precinct outside the Melbourne CBD and we are focused on building a model, suburban workplace of the future”.