Startup AirNova envisions France-wide eVTOL vertiport network

DroneDJ reports that the French AirNo­va start­up has ambi­tious plans to lift ground trans­porta­tion into the skies with emerg­ing eVTOL air­craft, and seeks to raise funds to build a net­work of mul­ti-pur­pose ver­ti­ports across France.

In Octo­ber, Bor­deaux-based AirNo­va announced a cam­paign to raise $3.2 mil­lion to build ele­vat­ed aer­i­al facil­i­ties and make them avail­able to air taxis, car­go trans­port, last-mile deliv­ery drones, and craft used by med­ical and emer­gency ser­vices.

Sky­ports, Volocopter’s ground ser­vices unit, and the Urban Blue com­pa­ny backed by a col­lec­tive of air­port oper­a­tors in Italy and south­ern France are already at work cre­at­ing that kind of infra­struc­ture.

How­ev­er, AirNo­va CEO Lau­rent Math­ion­lon believes the par­tic­u­lar expe­ri­ence of his small team, and their inti­mate knowl­edge of French urban, social and busi­ness work­ings give them the abil­i­ty to punch above their weight.

AirNo­va is study­ing about 10 ver­ti­port test sites and devel­op­ing a pro­pri­etary design based on an ele­vat­ed struc­ture whose low­er floors will be used for trav­el func­tions like recep­tion, check-in and wait­ing areas, while the roof is out­fit­ted with two land­ing pads and a pair of recharg­ing points.

AirNo­va ver­ti­ports aim to cre­ate links between remote cities and regions with eVTOL flights of 50–300 km, in addi­tion to inner-urban goods and pas­sen­ger trans­port cov­er­ing dis­tances of 10–30 km. AirNo­va ter­mi­nals will serve as hubs to sur­round­ing ground trans­port, includ­ing bus­es, sub­ways, and com­muter trains.

Math­i­olon explains: “For over three years I’ve been work­ing on a new form of air mobil­i­ty using our patent­ed AirNo­va design to devel­op ver­ti­port infra­struc­ture in France, then in Europe.”

DroneDJ con­cludes: “Will it work with so many larg­er com­peti­tors already in full stride? AirNo­va believes so, and con­tin­ues recruit­ing busi­ness angels, insti­tu­tion­al investors, and per­haps even eVTOL craft mak­ers like Toulouse-based Air­bus.

“Mean­while, oppor­tu­ni­ties remain fair­ly promis­ing for for­ward-think­ing com­pa­nies in France, where infra­struc­ture con­struc­tion for next-gen­er­a­tion air­craft isn’t exact­ly ahead of the curve, despite the nation being expect­ed to host the world’s first air taxi ser­vices dur­ing the Paris 2024 Olympics.”