Air Taxi Partnership between Air Asia and Skyports
AirAsia has signed a letter of intent with Skyports from United Kingdom to explore and encourage the development of air taxi infrastructure in Malaysia, starting in Kuala Lumpur. This is an important next step in establishing a fully functioning vertical airport network in the country or urban air mobility (UAM) industry.
More specifically, the document was signed by Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer Skyports Infrastructure and the Advanced Air Mobility arm of AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd, the aviation arm of Capital A Berhad. Skyports Infrastructure brings its global portfolio of design and construction of take-off and landing infrastructure for eVTOL airliners.
Artificial intelligence and 5G is one of the important infrastructures in urban air mobility (UAM) industry as self-driving cars are only the first step on a long road toward autonomous vehicle digital transformation.
” Following the announcement of our venture into the urban air taxi service earlier this year, we have been working around the clock to explore its feasibility in Malaysia,” said Capt Lim Liang Tian, Chief Safety Officer and Head of Advanced Air Traffic.
“This partnership with Skyports will accelerate the review of the infrastructure including vertical take-off and landing platforms in the country as well as strengthen our potential as a zero-emissions ultra-short-haul air travel provider in Southeast Asia.”
Mr Yun-Yuan Tay, Head of Asia Pacific from Skyports, said: “We are excited to be partnering with AirAsia, a powerhouse airline operator that brings great synergy to our work at Skyports. This partnership highlights the steady progress of AAM development and interest in Malaysia and the wider APAC region.”
“With innovative and forward-looking partners like AirAsia, we will be able to take concrete steps towards the realisation of a safe, efficient, and fully-integrated air taxi network which brings real benefits to the people and communities it serves.”
