Florida furthers Advanced Air Mobility initiatives
May 2, 2025
The US state of Florida is upping its commitment to advanced air mobility, with the recently-passed Senate Bill 1662 (now awaiting the state Governor’s signature) to support provision for passenger-carrying eVOL plans.
Among other transportation measures, the bill requires the Department of Transportation to “provide certain co-ordination and assistance for the development of a viable advanced air mobility system plan”. This includes addressing the need for vertiports and other technologies, and identifying and developing “statewide corridors of need and opportunities for industrial growth”. A designated subject matter expert will also be appointed “to serve as a resource for local jurisdictions navigating advances in aviation technology”.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) states its interest in the “transformative airborne technology” is focused on commercial passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft and their support systems.
Eve Air Mobility welcomed the news it believes will also streamline vertiport approvals, prioritise grants for emerging technologies and support aviation workforce development. “Eve has long seen Florida as a natural early adopter of AAM and we have been working alongside the Florida Department of Transportation for many years to prepare the state,” wrote the Brazilian eVTOL developer.
In 2023, Eve Air Mobility (along with Skyports, L3Harris and the Community Air Mobility Initiative) published the Miami-Dade Air Mobility Blueprint, focusing on an airport shuttle use case between Miami international airport and the Miami Beach Convention Centre. The initial study concluded that “interviewees were generally excited about this new form of transportation,” but cautioned the need for a “human and community-centric approach that extends well beyond engineering requirements”.
Miami-based UrbanLink Air Mobility has also been planning to operate a mix of scheduled and on-demand AAM services, with (alongside prior orders for the now-defunct Lilium Jet and Eviation Alice platforms) the Crisalion Integrity eVTOL. It has been partnering with infrastructure group Ferrovial Vertiports to develop appropriate vertiport infrastructure. Eve and Ferrovial first signed a collaboration agreement to explore the use of the former’s urban air traffic management solutions in March 2023.
