Vertiko Mobility and Jaunt Air Mobility have signed a letter of intent for the purchase of more than 70 Jaunt Journey aircraft and two hybrid aircraft, with an option for a further 25 units.
The aircraft will be acquired during the first five years of operation of the Québec vertiport network, with idea of transforming the letter of intent into a contract during Q2 2025, with operations to begin in 2026.
Under the same agreement, Jaunt will also act as a pilot training and aircraft maintenance partner with Vertiko. The 12 months between the contract signing and the start of operations will serve as a break-in period. Training of the 36 pilots needed to fly the first nine aircraft during the first year of operations will also be conducted during this period.
Éric Côté, President of Jaunt Canada, is proud to see the electric air transportation ecosystem gradually taking shape. He said: “Each new phase that we complete is a further step in the right direction in positioning Québec as a leader in this new market segment. The favourable environment we’re creating benefits not only us but also all of the players who will be involved in defining this transit mode of the future.”
Vertiko Mobility is a Québec-based company founded in 2021, backed by a holding company and local investors. Its mission is to reconnect Québec’s regions to its urban centres by building a network of vertiports spanning the province along with local large-city networks.
The company says its approach is distinct from those of other international vertiport network developers. For Vertiko, the successful buildout of its network is participation by real estate promoters, who have a vested interest in retaining ownership of their rooftops and the vertiports to maximise economic value and attraction benefits across their real estate developments.
To meet the operational objectives for the first year of the Vertiko Mobility network, five vertiports will need to be built between now and the end of March 2025. Initial expressions of interest for vertiport construction have come from ICAR in Mirabel, ODEA Montréal (investors CREECO and COGIR) and a new real estate development in Val‑d’Or (promoters Immeubles Quatro and Kraken Management).
Yannick Richard, executive vice-president, and John Valley, president of Vertiko Mobility, said the company is proud to accompany Jaunt in the realisation of its objectives, while highlighting Quebec know-how in the process.
Valley added: “It is the desire to develop an unknown market with our own rules of the game (Blue Ocean Strategy) that is at the origin of Vertiko Mobility. Jaunt Air Mobility is one of the key elements of this strategy.”
For Jaunt Air Mobility, this is the fourth such international agreement in a few short months. To fulfil its commitments, the company must first obtain certification for its final model. Testing of the next prototypes is expected to begin in 2023, with manufacturing to get under way in 2025.
The Jaunt Journey is targeting certification per existing standards for rotorcraft under Chapter 529 of the Transport Canada Canadian Aviation Regulations reinforces the feasibility of certification by 2026.
It is the world’s first electric aircraft combining helicopter and aeroplane flight capabilities. Jaunt has teamed with Tier One aviation partners to develop the Journey and will work with global operators to provide this new form of travel.
On March 10, 2022, Jaunt became a wholly owned subsidiary of AIRO Group Holdings, Inc. (The AIRO Group). The AIRO Group will bring together decades of industry-leading technology with its group companies to provide best-in-class products and services uniquely capable of addressing a wide spectrum of aerospace markets.
The AIRO Group leverages technologies that span data systems, resupply package delivery, military aerospace training, military, and commercial manned/unmanned aircraft systems, and avionics technologies.