Lilium reveals vertiport design plans and walkthrough video in online blog post
Lilium has revealed a fascinating insight into what one of its vertiports could look like inside, once its air taxi service is fully operational.
In a blog posted on the publishing platform Medium, the German start-up talked about plans to develop a modular standard vertiport design. Readers can also watch a video of an early render, which visualises a walkthrough into a terminal and out on to a parking stand — where an air taxi is stationed.
Lilium says an on-demand mobility service featuring its Lilium Jet air taxi will be available in cities across the world by 2025.
“We’ve been working on a lean, modular design that will help make vertiports accessible to developers large and small,” the blog says.
“Whether they are placing a vertiport at an existing transport terminal, next to a shopping centre, on top of a busy car park or alongside a suburban residential development, we wanted to make it easy and affordable for them to design and build a suitable vertiport.
“Our design is based around a limited set of modules which are standardised as much as possible, making it simpler and more affordable for developers to plan a vertiport for their specific site. The modules can also be prefabricated off-site, reducing costs and allowing for rapid on-site construction.”
Lilium says vertiports — whether they will facilitate 20 flights a day, or 20 flights per hour — will consist of three main ‘ingredients’: a take-off area, parking stands and a terminal.
Different vertiport configurations could include a Micro Vertiport — featuring a dedicated FATO (Final Take-Off and Approach) area and two parking zones for air taxis. Small Vertiports would have four parking zones, Medium-sized have six and for much bigger operations, a standard vertiport would comprise eight parking zones.
It adds: “The design of the safety zone has been driven, in the first instance, by established guidance for heliports, as have many other operational elements, such as approach slopes and obstacle clearance guidelines. We continue to work closely with regulators and other industry players to tailor this guidance more directly to eVTOL operations in the future.
“Passengers will board and disembark the Lilium Jet at a parking stand where the aircraft will also be cleaned, checked and charged for its next journey. Luggage will be loaded here and the aircraft will transfer flight data.
“The parking stands are sized to ensure there is no danger to passengers or colleagues while moving around the aircraft, while also maximising the efficiency of the vertiport.”
Lilium has said that by keeping the vertiport design lean and modular will allow the company’s network to grow rapidly and help deliver high-speed connectivity in a fraction of the time it typically takes to build roads or railways.
Vertiports, in their smallest configuration, can be built for as little as €1–2 million. These basic versions of a vertiport are typically ground-based, with small waiting areas and a limited set of gates for charging. Larger, elevated structures require a higher investment of between €7–15 million, depending on their situation and size.
You can view the rendering video and rest the Medium blog, by clicking here.
