Malaysia Airports has signed a memorandum of understanding with Skyports, a designer and operator of vertiport infrastructure for electric air taxis, and Volocopter, a pioneer of urban air mobility (UAM).
The collaboration forms part of the five-year regeneration plan for Subang’s Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (LTSAAS), which was Kuala Lumpur’s main airport before the opening of Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 1998. The project will explore the deployment of electric air taxi services at LTSAAS as well as other locations throughout Malaysia.
As a first step, the three parties will combine their aerospace and aviation expertise to conduct a feasibility study examining suitable vertiport solutions to enable the safe take-off and landing of passenger eVTOL vehicles, considering factors such as demand, customer flow, and how to integrate UAM operations within an existing airport.
Malaysia Airports’ Group CEO, Dato’ Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, says, “Air taxi technology and revolution is the next big thing that we want to see happen in Malaysian aviation. With LTSAAS offering a synergistic ecosystem within the aviation and aerospace sectors, it is timely for us to explore this new service as it complements other key developments of the regeneration initiative. Volocopter and Skyports are both leaders in their respective fields of advanced air mobility and we hope to further futureproof LTSAAS’s position in Asia Pacific by catering to research, assembly, manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul in addition to air taxi operations.”
Christian Bauer, CCO of Volocopter, adds, “The Southeast Asian Market is one of the largest and most interesting ones for UAM due to its geographical layout and dense population. Our feasibility study will help give us insights on demand, customer expectations, and airport integration, which we can apply to other markets in the region. Having expert partners like Skyports and LTSAAS understanding the local needs, is decisive in bringing revolutionary technologies like electric air taxis to new markets.”
