The subsidiary of the Spanish Ferrovial in the United States and the German aerospace company Lilium GmbH intend to build a port for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft or flying taxis in southeastern Florida, with an investment of at least US $ 7 million, according to a specialized medium.
The company Ferrovial Services North America, based in the city of Austin (Texas), needs to obtain the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and then obtain that the local authorities lease a piece of land for 20 years to develop their project at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), reported the South Florida Business Journal.
The 4.7-acre (1.9-hectare) hub will have two spaces for the horizontal takeoff and landing of the electric aircraft of the German aerospace manufacturer Lilium GmbH, Ferrovial’s partner in this project.
According to the documents that Ferrovial presented to the county, the Lilium eVTOL air taxi will have a range of 185 miles (almost 300 km) and a maximum speed of 297 km / h) and will have four seats for passengers, in addition to the pilot.
“Our strategy to bring high-speed transportation networks to an entire region is coming to life in Florida, and Ferrovial is the ideal partner with its unrivaled experience in the construction and operations of airports around the world,” said the director of operations of Lilium, Remo Gerber.
Gerber highlighted that “almost all 20 million Floridians will live within 30 minutes of our vertiports and the 140 million annual visitors to the state will have a high-speed option available to travel to their destinations,” according to the magazine specialized in business.
Construction works on the interchange will take around 36 months to complete.
The logistics center will create about 150 jobs and will have the participation of 20% of small local companies.
Last January, Ferrovial and Lilium announced an agreement to develop a dozen vertiports, as those infrastructures are known, to connect the main cities of Florida.
The presentation to the county will include a preliminary map of vertiports in Florida.
The other terminals appear in Miami, the Keys, another near the city of Fort Myers, and in Tampa, Orlando and Melbourne.
From West Palm Beach, the aircraft could reach Miami in 20 minutes, Orlando in 50 minutes and Tampa in 60 minutes, he added.
.
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
