Saudi Arabia gives wings to urban air mobility

Saudi Arabia gives wings to urban air mobility

RIYADH: Aviation experts and leaders will gather from all over the world to attend the Future Aviation Forum, a two-day event to showcase the advancements in international air travel, even as Saudi Arabia aims to generate $100 million from the aviation sector by 2030. Led by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the event will feature over 120 speakers and two thousand attendees with 40 sessions revolving around passenger experience, sustainability, and post-covid recovery. Among other sunrise sectors, the Kingdom’s aviation industry is scaling new heights to realize the ambitious Vision 2030 blueprint. The transport and logistics sector is already in the spotlight with NEOM, the Kingdom’s $500 billion development project, toying with the idea of flying taxis to establish vertical logistics services integrated with zero-emission public transit systems. The giga-project late last year announced a joint venture with German aircraft manufacturer Volocopter to build and operate the world’s first bespoke public vertical mobility system. NEOM confirmed that operations would commence within two to three years after placing an order for 15 Volocopter all-electric, air-mobility taxis. The initial order includes ten VoloCity intra-city aircraft and five VoloDrone logistics aircraft, an all-electric, heavy-lift payload drone. If this was not enough, Airbus