Air taxi services in Sentosa and Marina Bay by 2024; flights to Malaysia and Indonesia to follow

Air taxi pioneers Volocopter and Skyports are set to co-launch commercial air taxi services in Singapore in just two years' time, beginning with frequent flights in Marina Bay and Sentosa. This will then expand to include cross-border air taxi trips to Indonesia and Malaysia, possibly flying directly from terminals in areas like Seletar and Changi to cities including Melaka, Batam and Bintan. An air taxi flight from Changi Airport to Batam would take less than 20 minutes, German aviation company Volocopter said. A business traveller going to Ibrahim International Business District in Johor Baru could reach his destination in just 30 minutes, compared with three hours by car. At the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday, the air taxi companies said the technology is now close to commercial roll-out. Their blueprints are the first concrete details that have emerged from the urban air mobility industry here since their joint 2019 trial, when an electric air taxi took off successfully for a three-minute flight along the Marina Bay waterfront. On Tuesday, the Economic Development Board (EDB) and developer JTC Corporation identified Seletar Aerospace Park as a possible "advanced air mobility" hub, signing a memorandum of understanding with each company. One with Skyports pledges to explore building air taxi infrastructure like terminals and facilities for pilot training in Seletar. Another agreement with Volocopter seeks to establish a manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul centre for air taxis in the same area. The four signatories said in a joint statement: "With the advanced air mobility industry set to take off amid accelerating technological breakthroughs, Singapore is pushing ahead to grow the industry locally... with a view to creating a network of air taxi ports and an initial commercial air taxi service in the city state by 2024."<br/>