VPorts to Build World’s First AAM Business Center in Dubai

Quebec-based advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure company VPorts has agreed to build the first AAM business center located in Dubai South, in a bid to make Dubai and the United Arab Emirates a global AAM hub.

The agreement to build what VPorts calls an “integrator world center” was reached with the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH).

VPorts and MBRAH will build the facility at a 37,000-square-metre site within Dubai South, which will come with allocated airspace to test flights, among other innovative new technologies. The exclusive lease agreement will last for 25 years and will come with the option to extend it by another 25 years.

The project, which represents an initial investment of US$40 million over three years, is expected to generate US$7 billion in direct revenues in Dubai and UAE capital Abu Dhabi, and generate 1,500 direct jobs in the next 25 years.

With plans to build and operate 1,500 vertiports around the world by 2045, VPorts Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Fethi Chebil described it as a “milestone agreement” and a “landmark day” that brings future mobility one step closer to reality. He added that VPorts’ initial growth strategy for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) will be based on the regional transportation of goods, patients, organs for transplants, and medical equipment.

“Our mandate at MBRAH is to attract top global players in the aviation sector to establish their presence in the emirate and operate as part of our overall ecosystem. We are pleased to sign this agreement with VPorts to launch the first-of-its-kind integrator world center,” said Tahnoon Saif, Chief Executive Officer, MBRAH. “We will spare no effort in supporting VPorts so it can prosper, succeed, and connect with different stakeholders.”

From a regulatory perspective, GCAA supported the move to build Dubai as a world-leading AAM hub.

“As a leading civil aviation organization, we are reshaping the regulatory landscape to leverage the presence of the principal project partners in Dubai to enable innovation and to foster AAM-related technology and know-how capacity building in the UAE and across the world. We aim to build an efficient and sustainable framework that supports the growth and integration of AAM,” said Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General, General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).