Seville to run the first urban air mobility pilot program in Spain

The Spanish city of Seville is one step closer to initiating an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) programme. This will make Seville one of the first cities in Europe to start developing an aerial mobility system.

On 10 March, the mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas, signed an agreement with a Chinese start-up company EHang, to work together to develop urban air mobility solutions for the city. These range from passenger transport and logistics, to command and control platforms. The city of Seville will be involved with the planning of the flight routes and will also assist with ensuring that there are the necessary permissions in place to enable test flights to be conducted in line with national and EU legislation.

The mayor of Seville stated that this technological partnership was a great opportunity for his city and for Europe. He underlined that Seville has a rich legacy in European aviation and he believes that this cooperation could facilitate the commercialisation of a UAM ecosystem in Europe.

EHang underlined that 60% of EU citizens live in urban areas of over 10,000 inhabitants, which face serious problems of air pollution and traffic congestion. They also pointed out that in recent years, UAM has emerged as an efficient and eco-friendly solution for urban transport that could provide a convenient way to transport people and cargo around cities, as well as creating thousands of jobs.

The company has already conducted over 2,000 test flights in multiple countries, including Austria, China, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the USA and has plans for the development of a global Urban Air Mobility industry.

Article published first at movilidadelectrica.com on 18 March 2020