UrbanLink Air Mobility and Signature Aviation have partnered to explore the development of all electric air operations in Florida.
The partnership will focus on the research and exploration of infrastructure for UrbanLink’s future fleet of BETA Technologies electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) aircraft at Signature’s network of FBOs, company officials explained.
In addition, Signature and UrbanLink are pursuing the establishment of UrbanLink’s operating and maintenance base at a South Florida Airport.
“We are honored to partner with Signature, the world’s leading network of private aviation terminals, to expand our Florida network and establish our operations base at their location in South Florida,” said Ed Wegel, founder, chairman and CEO of UrbanLink. “Signature is already collaborating with BETA Technologies to explore the installation of charging infrastructure across its Florida locations, and our operating teams are working closely together on route development and base planning to ensure a seamless transition to all-electric air mobility.”
“The use of private aviation terminals is critical as we launch operations and await the build-out of vertiport infrastructure to support flight operations beyond existing airports. We will also be working closely with Signature on the planning and development of those vertiports,” added Wegel.
For more information: FlyUrbanLink.com, SignatureAviation.com
I saw this at Oshkosh. It did a little demonstration. It can’t carry very much and it can’t stay in the air very long. I think it’s a solution in search of a problem. It was shiny and nice looking, but it’s not going anywhere.
It’s good to see more and more states moving out on electric vehicles of all types. It seems we’re now at the point where we were with paved roads and gas stations in the early 1900s to accommodate this new-fangled thing called a car. It will take a while for electric to fully make its way, and initiatives like this help. One other thought is that something that seems to get lost in the electric discussion is how quiet the aircraft are. Given that noise is a huge issue for airports, electric aircraft may be part of a long term solution there as well. It’s an exciting time to be in aviation!
Since Florida gets 75% of its electricity from natural gas fired powered plants, and another 11% from nuclear and coal, the headline should read “Carbonizing Florida”. According to Alex Epstein in his great book, “Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas–Not Less”. we’d be better off with more oil, natural has, and coal.