The city of Coventry in the UK has launched a new project to build a foundation for drone and air taxi services in the UK.
Urban Ascent brings together organisations across technology, research and local government to develop a city-scale blueprint for integrating drones and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft into urban environments.
The project will assess how advanced air mobility can improve medical logistics, emergency response and infrastructure inspection as well as supporting the long-term vision for passenger eVTOL operations to increase mobility and reduce congestion and emission.
“We are talking about things like drones being used to fly urgent medical supplies between hospitals, being used to inspect bridges and roads and even using them to enable an overview of things like road accidents and road congestion,” said Councillor Jim O’Boyle cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change.
Rather than conducting live trials, Urban Ascent focuses on designing the essential frameworks that will make urban drone operations possible in the future including building a business case for urban air mobility and exploring regulatory and infrastructure readiness, including vertiport planning.
The work is funded by Innovate UK and the Department for Transport through the Future Flight Regional Demonstrator programme. Led by Coventry City Council, the consortium includes Skyfarer Ltd, Coventry University, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), SLiNK-TECH and Odys Aviation. The consortium is supported by the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, building on insights from the earlier Drone Ready Cities initiative funded by the Regional Pioneers Fund.
Skyfarer will act as operational and regulatory lead. The company will coordinate the development of operational procedures, safety frameworks and integration with national airspace systems.
The Research Centre for Future Transport and Cities at Coventry University will lead the assessment of priority use cases, demonstrating how drones could enhance services in logistics, emergency response and infrastructure management. The team will also develop the business case for urban air mobility in Coventry, providing evidence-based insights on how drone and eVTOL technologies can deliver tangible social and economic value for cities.
For more information
Image: Tomasz Tomal / Unsplash
