How SITA and Urban-Air Port plan to transform urban travel
SITA is partnering with UK startup Urban-Air Port to combine their expertise in innovative digital platforms and modular vertiport infrastructure to “radically transform urban travel.”
The collaboration will see SITA…
June 3, 2025
SITA is partnering with UK startup Urban-Air Port to combine their expertise in innovative digital platforms and modular vertiport infrastructure to “radically transform urban travel.”
The collaboration will see SITA use its advanced technology to help leverage Urban-Air Port’s (UAP’s) patented vertiport technology. Backed by companies including Supernal (Hyundai Motor Group), the latter’s ultra-compact, high-capacity infrastructure offer multi-modal hubs for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) passenger and cargo flights across civil and defence applications.
UAP first unveiled its “AirOne” vertiport project in Coventry in 2022 with UK Governmetn Research and Innovation funding. The vertiport is now commercially available with UAP previously saying it hopes to deliver over 200 vertiports across the globe by the end of the decade.
“Urban Air Mobility holds vast potential to shape the future of travel, but it must scale rapidly, safely and intelligently,” said Benoit Verbaere, director of business development for travel and transport at SITA.
The two companies will work together to create the world’s fully integrated Software-Defined Vertiport, featuring a co-developed “AirOne” vertiport. While SITA will bring “decades of aviation expertise to build the digital backbone of the AAM ecosystems,” according to Verbaere, UAP will bring its expertise in modular, rapidly deployable vertiports to the partnership.
The aim, said Verbaere is to “seamlessly integrate eVTOLs into tomorrow’s intermodal transport networks.”
Central to the initiative is the Vertiport Management System (VMS), a cloud-based platform orchestrating every aspect of vertiport operations, including planning, resource allocation, passenger flow, weather data monitoring, and security.
“This isn’t just about new infrastructure,” added Andrea Wu, CEO of Urban-Air Port. “It’s about delivering a fully connected experience for passengers, VTOL and transport operators. By uniting our innovative vertiport hardware with SITA’s proven aviation platforms, we’re building a real foundation for safe, scalable air mobility with global reach.”
The collaboration is also not the first that UAP has made to combine its physical infrastructure with digital solutions. Last year it collaborated with LG to merge robotics with AI integrated systems to enable a range of services, spanning from biometric check-in and interactive lounges to EV charging hubs and a digital ecosystem for commercial services on site.
Last month UAP also announced a partnership with Drone Evolution to deliver transformative defence capabilities for modern warfare. The two companies are planning to introduce the DBx-A1 a UAV logistics and launch system designed to enable rapid, secure and scalable deployment of mission-critical drones in contested environments.
