AirAsia Partnering With Skyports for Air Taxi Infrastructure Developments in Malaysia

The low-cost airline is teaming up with advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure leader Skyports Infrastructure to develop vertiports in the country. Vertiports are platforms built on city rooftops that serve as private airports where air taxis could take off and land. The two companies signed a letter of intent today to make the one-year partnership official.

The news comes a few months after Capital A, formerly AirAsia Group, unveiled plans of venturing into the air taxi space, leasing a minimum of 100 VX4 eVTOL aircrafts from Irish aviation company Avolon. The service is expected to become available in Malaysia by 2025.

The first step of AirAsia’s partnership with Skyports is to conduct initial assessments, which, for now, will focus on the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. This involves joint feasibility studies for the integration of air taxi vertiport infrastructure, the identification of suitable sites and the development of operational requirements and frameworks to implement a vertiport network across the country.

"Following the announcement of our venture into the urban air taxi service earlier this year, we have been working around the clock to explore its feasibility in Malaysia," said Captain Ling Liong Tien, Chief Safety Officer and Head of Advanced Air Mobility at AirAsia. "This partnership with Skyports will accelerate the review of the infrastructure including vertical take-off and landing platforms in the country as well as strengthen our potential as a zero-emissions ultra-short-haul air travel provider in Southeast Asia."

The partnership is said to draw from the strengths of the parties involved. AirAsia looks to leverage its expertise and experience in airspace travel and its on-ground market knowledge and networks, while Skyports takes care of designing and building the actual vertiport infrastructures.

Skyports is also the company that's in charge of building the air taxi infrastructures in Singapore, including the vertiports and the terminals. Meanwhile, Volocopter is the one supplying the aircrafts and running the service, which is expected to be available between early- to mid-2024.