Neom, is a $500 billion sustainable development, high-tech, industrial, residential, tourist and mega-city being built in Saudi Arabia.
This city announced a joint venture with the German aircraft manufacturer Volocopterp to develop the world’s first bespoke public eVTOL mobility system.
Also, the initial order is for 15 Volocopter aircraft. 10 velocity two-seat, multi-copter eVTOL air taxis and five VoloDrone drones.
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The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) mobility will be part of Neom’s urban air mobility (UAM) program. This operation is going to start operation in the next two to three years.
Christian Bauer, Volocopter CCO described this partnership by saying it’s a“once in a lifetime opportunity to be an essential part of designing and operating a completely new UAM ecosystem from the ground up without the constraint of legacy infrastructure or regulation.”
Furthermore, NEOM aspires to establish a three-dimensional, zero-emissions public mobility system. This JV will absolutely be a milestone to achieve that. In addition to an open electric vertical take-off and landing ecosystem. This system is for vertical mobility services that include logistics, emergency response, and tourism.
“In designing cities and urban infrastructure for the 21st century, mobility is at the center of the equation. Through this joint venture with Volocopter, we are demonstrating to the world that Neom is the ideal region to implement urban air mobility rapidly and create a fully-integrated vertical mobility ecosystem,” Nadhmi Al Nasr, chief executive of Neom said.
About Neom
Neom is the vision of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
“NEOM is a region in northwest Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea being built from the ground up as a living laboratory — a place where entrepreneurship will chart the course for this New Future. A hub for innovation, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and companies will come to NEOM to research, incubate, and commercialize new technologies and enterprises in ground-breaking ways.” As Its website describes the project.
However, the Neom stretches in more than 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coastline. It includes Oxagon, which is a carbon emissions-free city.
The eVTOL network will connect Oxagon with The Line, which is Neom’s core urban development.
Neom has placed a confirmed order of 15 Volocopter aircraft to commence initial flight operations within the next 2-3 years