Urban airport to show off full size mock-up of the flying taxi hub

U.K. aviation startup Urban-Air Port will exhibit the flying-taxi hub it aims to replicate across the world next month, complete with cargo-drone flights, a retractable launchpad, and functioning shops and eateries.

The so-called vertiport will open to the public in Coventry, England, from April 28 to May 15, aiming to show how electric vertical takeoff and landing craft will function in towns and cities. The mock-up will demonstrate everything short of passenger flights, including a Supernal eVTOL model, maintenance hangar, and charging points for electric cars, Urban-Air Port said Wednesday.

The company plans to establish a global network of 200 vertiports over the next five years, tapping demand from dozens of fledgling eVTOL firms. Though the demonstration hub, known as Air-One, will feature real shops, the small size of the sites will see wider retail efforts focused on virtual-reality shopping, smart-vending machines, and other interactive technologies.