Australian vertiport developer Skyportz is calling on governments to create a research and development hub for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, saying other markets are already moving ahead. CEO Clem Newton-Brown made the call Nov. 11 at Global Drone 2026 on the Gold Coast.
Skyportz said several Australian states have published policy documents backing advanced air mobility and that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has issued vertiport design guidance. Even so, the company said, no purpose-built vertiport has been built in Australia.
The company pointed to regulatory sandboxes elsewhere, where governments let industry test aircraft and infrastructure under regulator supervision. It cited Hong Kong’s Low-altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox and its successor, Sandbox X; the U.S. eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, which selected eight projects in March 2026; and Florida, where legislation signed in April 2026 allows state funding of up to 100 percent of vertiport projects that lack federal support.
Skyportz also tied the call to its own product. Its Aeroberm vertipad, developed with Australian Government support and Swinburne University of Technology, uses a fractal panel surface meant to dissipate rotor downwash and outwash. Skyportz said multiple patent applications have been filed internationally and that the product will launch at the Avalon Australian International Airshow in February 2027. It said it has registered interest and letters of intent from partners in the United States, India, China and the Middle East.
“There is an incredible opportunity for the first state to seriously commit to attracting this industry to Australia, but it needs to move beyond press releases and policy positions to actually build the vertiport infrastructure,” said Newton-Brown.
Skyportz said it has nowhere in Australia to test Aeroberm with the aircraft it was designed to support. Why it matters: vertiport design and test facilities are a gating item for eVTOL operations, and Australia has yet to build one.
More Info:
Skyportz (Official website): click here
Aeroberm (Official website): click here
Skyportz press release via EIN Presswire: click here
Image: Skyportz via EIN Presswire