The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has approved the development of an advanced air mobility (AAM) business park in Dubai. The facility will be built by Canada based-VPorts at the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH), which is part of the Al Maktoum International Airport and Dubai South complex.
As a part of the agreement, VPorts has signed a 25-year lease on a 37,000 square meter area, with an initial $40 million over three years. The construction will start in 2023, with the first part of the facility expected to open in 2024.
Nexa Capital Partners will lead an investment round to help VPorts raise more financial backing for the Dubai development. VPorts is already working on AAM projects in Quebec and New York. According to VPorts, the facility in the UAE will generate $7 billion in direct revenues for Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the next 25 years and support the creation of 1,500 jobs.
As per the business plan, the vertiports will be positioned for multimodal transportation connections across the UAE in Dubai South, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ras Al-Khaimah that will be extended to major industrial sites in the country by 2030.
The Dubai South facility will include what VPorts calls a Vertiport Operation Control Center that will manage air traffic integration and communications between eVTOL aircraft operators, vertiports, and air navigation service providers. The company says the center will also be used to manage tasks such as cargo loading, ground handling, security screening, and the recharging of aircraft batteries.