Providers jockey to offer Miami urban air taxi service

The race to introduce air taxis to Miami’s skyline is speeding up as one provider is targeting a 2026 launch and plans to buy 20 all-electric jets to make the futuristic vision a reality.

Recent start-up and Miami-based advance air mobility operator UrbanLink announced plans in May to acquire the German-made Lilium electric vertical take-off and land aircraft, or eVTOL. The eVTOL service is anticipating a 2026 launch through a network of vertiports in Florida that Lilium and its partners have been assembling for five years.

The operator is being launched by Ed Wegel, previous chairman of Global Crossing Airline Group or GlobalX, which announced the creation of a similar subsidiary in November 2023, UrbanX, and signed a letter of intent for up to 200 of the Embraer-backed Eve Air Mobility four-passenger eVTOLs.

“While many airlines have discussed the potential of operating eVTOL aircraft, none have made a definitive commitment. UrbanLink will be the first airline in the US to integrate eVTOL aircraft into its fleet. We are dedicated to revolutionizing the way people move to and from as well as within urban cores,” Mr. Wegel said in a statement.

UrbanLink plans to utilize the Lilium Jet, an eVTOL aircraft capable of traveling up to 180 miles on a single charge, to connect major cities like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach and extend across the state to Marco Island and the Florida Keys. The deal with the European manufacturer also includes options for 20 more jets and a schedule of pre-delivery payments.

UrbanLink isn’t alone in its mission to bring air taxis to Miami. Global Crossing Airlines subsidiary UrbanX is still actively working with its partners at Eve Air Mobility as well as local and state officials, infrastructure, energy and technology providers to establish the necessary framework for launching eVTOL aircraft in Miami-Dade.

“There is a lot of work to be done to build out the UAM (urban air mobility) ecosystem in Miami-Dade County, including government and industry collaboration, regulations and certifications, airspace integration, infrastructure and vertiport development, and community engagement,” Lucy Morillo, UrbanX president and CEO, previously told Miami Today.

“We will start the certification of part 135 operator in the second half of 2024, which will provide us with our AOC (air operators certificate) and the operating platform to add the Eve aircraft at the end of 2026,” Ms. Morillo said. “Then, we anticipate the Eve eVTOL certification will take 90-120 days after the first aircraft delivery, which will then allow us to schedule our first flight at the beginning of 2027.”

Earlier this year, Archer Aviation, in partnership with United Airlines, signed a memorandum of understanding with fixed-base operator Atlantic to establish sites for electric aircraft operations, or vertiports, in America’s most congested cities including Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City.

The announcement came after Venture Miami hosted a summit on bringing UAM to the city.

“South Florida is at the forefront of interest from the AAM (advanced air mobility) industry, and the city of Miami is at the epicenter. Through our upcoming ‘air route integration challenge’ and ‘vertiport design challenge,’ Venture Miami’s goal is to create a ‘Blueprint Review Process’ that can be adapted and implemented nationwide for vertiport siting and eVTOL operations,” said Venture Miami Chief Economic Development Officer Keith A. Carswell.

At a June Transportation Planning Organization meeting, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told the board that he wanted to move faster on bringing UAM to Miami.

“We’re not being very innovative,” he said. “We’re still looking at yesterday’s technology…. We have to start looking at innovation: urban air mobility, tunneling. What are we doing as a board, what are we doing as a community, to look at innovative solutions?” Mr. Suarez asked.

“Things like urban air mobility and sea gliders are things that we’re actively working on. So we’re actually trying to be proactive,” responded Oliver Gilbert III, the organization’s vice chair and chairman of the Miami-Dade County Commission. “We know technology is forward looking so we’ve been forward looking. We’ve set up a taskforce with the industry so they could help us draft the regulations so that it’s not completely burdensome to them, something they can do.”