Flying Cars - Air Rights In The Driving Seat
Your Airspace, Your Rights, Your Choice
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy this week’s article and if you want to be involved in opening up low-altitude skies you can reach me at jonathan@sky.trade
Just One Seat
The US developer behind a "flying sports car," Samson Sky, has secured a patent for its wing-swing design. The European Union (EU) granted this latest patent for the high-performance Switchblade, which was designed by Sam Bousfield the CEO.
The Switchblade key feature is where its wings swing out, and the tail extends in under three minutes, facilitating takeoff and it is targeting this from local airports. This means to use your new flying car you need to drive to the airport.
It is said to be capable of reaching speeds up to 200 mph and altitudes of 13,000 feet, it requires 700 feet for landing. The demo flight of the Switchblade recently took place at Lake Moses, Washington, where the prototype test vehicle successfully ascended to 500 feet, remaining airborne for nearly six minutes before a smooth landing.
As property owners own this airspace up to at least 500 feet, it will be useful for Switchblade to be able to integrate into a system that aggregates property owners air rights.
Equipped with a hybrid electric system running on unleaded gas, the Switchblade can refuel at standard gas stations. Samson Sky has orders of over 2,700 units amounting to over $5 million if the commitments are completed. These orders are from individuals across 57 countries and all U.S. states and at a cost of $170,000 each. The Switchblade requires a Private Pilot Certificate for operation.
While a great development, this flying car does not look to be a big help to our transportation problems but it is a welcome innovation.
Florida Looks Upwards
UrbanX Air, a subsidiary of Global Crossing Airlines Group, in collaboration with Eve, unveiled plans for air taxi services in South Florida. The Miami-based company signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) for 200 Eve vehicles in 2022 and aims to establish commuter flights concentrated in Miami-Dade County.
The electric Verticle Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicle, which has a range of up to 60 miles, is part of GlobalX's strategy in the advanced air mobility sector. UrbanX, founded in November, intends to apply for its Part 135 air operator certificate by the second half of 2024, eyeing commercial flights in early 2027.
The routes may include Miami International Airport to downtown Miami, Fort Lauderdale, cruise ship ports, Homestead, and Key Largo, with services ranging from scheduled to on-demand. UrbanX is exploring broader community benefits, including medical support flights and county government operations.
The eVTOL is currently undergoing scrutiny for type certification by Brazil's National Aviation Safety Agency, with a public consultation in February 2024. Eve, a publicly listed company and majority-owned by Embraer has a prototype set for test flights in 2024.
In the US when an eVTOL flies in low-altitude airspace it needs the permission of the air rights holders.
Europes Legal Tensions
In Europe, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is leading in shaping noise regulations for eVTOL air services, emphasizing public concerns and environmental considerations. The agency issued two Environmental Protection Technical Specifications (EPTS) detailing regulatory frameworks for VTOL-capable aircraft (VCA), covering both non-tilting and tilting rotors. The standards aim to address societal worries about noise disruption in urban air mobility. EASA sets consistent maximum noise levels for eVTOL aircraft during approach, takeoff, and overflight for both categories. The regulations also include a hover noise assessment around vertiports.
While having some rules in place is useful, regulating before there are any commercial eVTOL flights seems very enthusiastic. Let’s see how this develops, will it be quick or slow in Europe?
Some Stakeholders Are More Equal Than Others
EASA has also launched the Innovative Air Mobility Hub, a digital platform facilitating information exchange among stakeholders in the eVTOL and drone sectors. This initiative aligns with the European Commission's Drones Strategy 2.0, featuring a collaboration with eVTOL developers like Lilium, Volocopter, and Airbus, along with city officials from Paris, Hamburg, Aachen, Helsinki, and Lombardy.
There is a tension in Europe between legal frameworks. This is from the mixing of common law and civil law. Certain countries like Ireland, Cyprus and Malta are all common law jurisdictions. This means the owner of the property owns the airspace above their assets. In the civil law jurisdictions of Europe, the government have taken the property owner’s rights for themselves for the most part.
This means for low-altitude air travel in common law jurisdictions the property owner can enjoy drones and eVTOL if they want them in their airspace. In the non-common law countries of Europe, the individual is less lucky and must take what’s imposed on them without reward.
USA and UK
Thankfully in the United States and the UK, common law means that owners of the airspace above property can benefit from using their air rights for low-altitude transportation.
States, not the federal government also decide the rules for low-altitude airspace (not the ownership), and this means States are more likely to innovate in the area of low-altitude airspace for their benefit, the incentive is in place. This can be seen in several forward-thinking states like Texas, Arizona and Utah to name a few. These States are looking for ways to improve transportation, bring jobs and also utilise their own air rights for drones and eVTOL.
The term ‘air rights’ grants property owners control over the vertical expanse above their holdings. This includes the airspace above structures. Air rights can also be used as transferable development rights, and tradable assets, the same as physical property, amplifying property sale prices through the promise of future utility.
Property at one value today is a higher value tomorrow if the airspace can be used.
Flying cars, air taxis and drones bring packages and people, but they also bring opportunity. Property owners and States have a unique opportunity to drive growth and increase wealth for their communities and it’s not by tapping into oil or gas beneath the ground, it’s in the air above.
Thanks for reading, if you are interested in learning more about low-altitude airspace, how to gain income from your air rights or how to invest in SkyTrade contact me at jonathan@sky.trade
