Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Canadian startup Vports to build Ras Al Khaimah’s first vertiport

By Pramod Kumar
Vports
The signing of the MoU between Ras Al-Khaimah Airport and Vports

Canada’s urban air mobility startup Vports is expanding its reach across the UAE as the country moves ahead to make advanced air mobility a reality. 

Vports signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Airport to build and operate the first vertiport in the emirate as an advanced air mobility (AAM) hub.

The RAK vertiport, established on a 10,000 sq m site, will be designed for all types of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. All eVTOLs manufacturers will be allowed to use the vertiport.

By 2030, VPorts plans to extend its vertiport network to all major industrial areas across the UAE, providing a sustainable transportation solution via eVTOL aircraft. The network will focus on locations that optimise multimodal transportation connectivity, including Ras Al Khaimah, Dubai South, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

“We look forward to collaborating with each and every emirate to define the location of dedicated vertiports as well as safety and security regulations, flight corridors, urban integration and business community engagement for this important undertaking,” said Dr Fethi Chebil, president and founder of VPorts.

In December 2022 VPorts signed a 25-year lease agreement with the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub to establish an integrator centre on a 37,000-square-metre site within Dubai South. 

Development and construction of the centre will start in 2023. The first flight test will be conducted in 2024.

Last month Dubai Roads and Transport Authority said that flying taxis will become operational in the emirate by 2026, with “vertiports” initially connecting downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Dubai International Airport and Palm Jumeirah.

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority issued the world’s first national vertiport regulation in December 2022. It covers the design and operation of vertiports – areas of land, water or structures used for vertical take-off and landing aircraft. 

The regulation is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2023.

Latest articles

Clothing, Glove, Computer

Saudi HR company to raise up to $106m from listing

Tamkeen Human Resources Company (Tamkeen) is expected to raise between SAR365.7 million and SAR397.5 million ($97-$ 106 million) from its initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi stock exchange. The company set its IPO price range between SAR46 and SAR50 per share on Sunday as institutional book-building period commenced. The final price will be determined […]

Desert, Nature, Outdoors

Jordan’s 2024 tourism revenue drops 4% to $5.5bn

Jordan’s tourism revenues in the first nine months of 2024 fell by 4 percent year on year to $5.5 billion. The decline was attributed to a 7 percent drop in tourist numbers, state-run Petra reported quoting data from the Central Bank of Jordan. Despite the overall decline, tourism income from Jordanian expatriates and Arab visitors […]

People, Person, Adult

Saudi Arabia to invest $2bn in Pakistan’s economy

Saudi Arabia and Pakistani have signed 27 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) totalling $2 billion, according to local media reports. The investments will target Pakistan’s key sectors such as industry, agriculture, information technology, food, education, mining and minerals, health, petroleum and energy, Dawn newspaper reported. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Pakistan’s prime minister […]

Head, Person, Face

India’s Adani set to raise $1bn from Middle East wealth fund

Adani Group, led by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, is in advanced discussions with an unnamed sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East to raise up to $1 billion for its airports business, a news report said. The first tranche of the fundraising will be finalised by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, Economic […]