Not quite flying cars yet, MAHB to test Geely-funded Volocopter air taxis

Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) announced yesterday that they have signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Skyports and Volocopter to study the feasibility of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in Malaysia.

Volocopter is the only developer of multicopter and fixed-wing design electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that can be used for passenger air taxis and cargo transportation. The company has been funded by Geely since 2019. 

Skyports specialises in air mobility infrastructure design and is an operator of vertiports, an area designed specifically for eVTOL aircraft to take off and land.

The tripartite MoU signed between the 3 parties includes exploring the development and operations of vertiports at airports operated by MAHB.

Also read: Sorry Malaysia, looks like Korea will beat us to the race for flying cars with Hyundai

According to data released by Porsche Consulting, the Asia Pacific region is expected to capture around 45 percent of the advanced air mobility (AAM) market by 2035, translating to USD 9.5 million.

MAHB hopes that the outcome of this agreement will be a game-changer for air travel offerings. It is also part of the five-year Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (LTSAAS) Regeneration plan, or better known as Subang Airport to most of us.

Also read: Did you know that Geely has a flying car that works?

The last we heard about Malaysia’s UAM project, widely touted as the ‘flying car’ project, was that the project was grounded while the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry work on helping existing small and medium enterprises (SME) recover from the pandemic.

With this MoU in place, looks like the project is back on track.

Also read: Flying car project still on but grounded for now