Bold vision to bring air taxis to Melbourne, with sky ports in Victorian centres including Geelong

Plans are afoot to build a network of “sky ports” across Victoria for a future air taxi service. Here’s when flights may start to take off.

Render of a Skyportz/Electra Aero aircraft in Melbourne.

Victorians would fly in and out of Melbourne in electric “air taxis” under an ambitious plan to build a network of “sky ports” around the state.

Suitable locations for ultra-short takeoff and landing runways are being pursued in industrial areas, housing estates on the city fringe, and in regional destinations.

While a previous plan by Uber to launch air taxi services in Melbourne has been shelved, two new announcements have given impetus to the fledgling industry.

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer wants to bring air taxis to Melbourne by 2026 using vertical takeoff and landing aircraft under its subsidiary Eve Urban Air Mobility.

How a Skyportz aircraft might look flying over Geelong.

And Melbourne outfit Skyportz has partnered with US firm Electra Aero to look at the possibility of introducing hybrid-electric aircraft for future urban and regional passenger services, as well as freight movement.

Skyportz CEO and former state Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown said that Uber had gone too far by promoting air taxis “jumping around on city rooftops”.

“Skyportz is taking a step back and looking at the reality that it’s probably going to take

decades to the point of landing on rooftops in the city,” he said.

Mr Newton-Brown said Melbourne currently didn’t have the congestion or density to justify such short trips, but high speed services on routes not serviced by flights now could work.

“The early use case will not be, I want to get a taxi from the suburbs into the city, but I want to travel from Bendigo to Melbourne,” he said.

“The time saving between Geelong to Melbourne would be much better than the idea of getting a sky port flight in Albert Park and going to the city.”

“If you’re coming to Melbourne you might be landing in Docklands or Fishermans Bend, and the last leg would be on some other form of transport.”

Uber had a plan to bring air taxis to Melbourne.

Skyportz has been working for years with infrastructure and development partners to secure options for a big network of sky port locations, and has consulted government agencies over policy and regulation issues.

“You might have a housing estate with a thousand new homes proposed, and you set aside an area for a sky port there, and it grows up around it,” Mr Newton-Brown said.

“Or it might be in an industrial area where its less sensitive to get approval to land an aircraft.”

Electra’s low-carbon footprint aircraft carry up to seven passengers and can take off and land within the size of a parking lot.

This week, Melbourne will host online the nation’s first Advanced Air Mobility Summit organised by the Australian Association for Unmanned Systems.