Eve Air Mobility ("Eve") (NYSE: EVEX; EVEXW) and SkyScape, a Japanese vertiport development and management company headquartered in Osaka, Japan, have announced an agreement to use Eve’s Urban ATM (air traffic management) as a part of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concept of operations published by the Japanese government. The announcement makes Skyscape Eve’s 13th Urban ATM customer and it becomes its sixth Urban ATM vertiport customer as the company continues to grow its business globally.
Eve’s Urban ATM software solution is a key enabler to the efficient implementation and scalability of urban air mobility (UAM) by providing services for air navigation service providers, urban authorities, fleet operators, vertiport operators, and other UAM stakeholders. The solution includes UAM flight coordination, vertiport automation airside support, airspace flow management and conformance management.
“This agreement represents a key milestone for Eve as SkyScape becomes our first Urban ATM customer in Japan as we continue to grow our portfolio of vertiport customers around the world,” said David Rottblatt, vice president of sales and government affairs at Eve Air Mobility. “Japan has been very proactive and is a global leader in pursuing urban air mobility. Eve’s Urban ATM solution will play a critical role in helping to transport eVTOL passengers quickly and safely in densely populated cities in the future.”
“Our team at SkyScape is focused on developments that move the needle forward and get us closer to launching real AAM services,” said Asa Quesenberry, CEO of SkyScape. “Working directly with the EVE team pushes us one step closer to the reality we’re looking to create within Advanced Air Mobility and enables the variety of aviation operations we’re planning to offer from our facilities.”
As part of the agreement, the two companies will collaborate in a number of different ways including promoting Urban Air Mobility in Japan and the test and trial of Urban ATM software including data collection and sharing. The companies will also work together on showcasing eVTOL design and testing, vertiport design, operation certification and future autonomous operation development at SkyScape locations including their planned country research site known as the “Integrated Aviation Center” (IAC) when it opens in the future.
SkyScape is pioneering a unique approach to Vertiport development focused on their aviation facility “building blocks,” as a set of ready-made units that house various elements of vertiport operations. These blocks are meant to empower site developers by allowing them to design aviation facilities and vertiports with only the elements that are applicable to their unique situation and use case. The blocks are intended to make use of upcycled conex containers as well as high-grade aluminium to enable quick set up and resilience through the facilities lifecycle while emphasising a focus on sustainable materials. The hope of SkyScape’s approach is to develop aviation facilities that can support a high number of co-located services not limited to eVTOL operations but also first response, medical deliveries, security and more in the name of empowering communities through AAM.
