Magellan partners with Ferrovial on vertiports
The Magellan 500 Group, one of the possible developers of Lisbon’s new International airport with a suggested site at Santarém, has formed a partnership with the Spanish company Ferrovial for vertiports to be built in Oeiras.
The vertiports would be the support infrastructure for the take off and landings of future vertical takeoff electrical aircraft.
An electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is a variety of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically. This technology came about thanks to major advances in electric propulsion (motors, batteries, fuel cells, electronic controllers) and the emerging need for new aerial vehicles for urban air mobility that can enable greener and quieter flights. Electric and hybrid propulsion systems (EHPS) have also the potential of lowering the operating costs of aircraft.
There has been a significant increase in interest among aircraft manufacturers for eVTOLs, and companies such as Boeing, Airbus and Bell have also worked on the technology:
The Airbus A3 Vahana was introduced in 2017 at the Paris Air Show and made its first flight in January 2018.
The Boeing – Aurora Flight Sciences PAV which had been in development since 2017, made its first flight in 2019 and the Bell Nexus 6HX was unveiled at the CESp 2019.
In addition to these major aircraft manufacturers, startups have been playing an important role in the development of these air vehicles and have even been leaders in technological advances.
Ferrovial has various mobility infrastructure construction lines including airports, highways, general construction, energy infrastructure, and urban mobility projects.
The companies which are interested in developing and building vertiports in Spain and Portugal want to be in the forefront as basic enablers of Urban and Advanced Air Mobility (UAM/AAM) which will facilitate the movement of people and goods more rapidly and efficiently than traditional transport infrastructures.
