California eVTOL developer Wisk Aero has its sights set on the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games to launch its autonomous air taxis in Australia.
While the milestone is dependant on many factors, including the aviation authority’s readiness to type certify a next-generation new entrant into the airspace, Wisk’s expanded partnership with Skyports aims to pave the pathway to making that a reality.
Announced on the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow on July 22, Wisk and Skyports said they are working together to develop an entry-into-service network in Australia’s South East Queensland (SEQ) region.
Duncan Walker, CEO of Skyports, said the partnership “will leverage our combined expertise to develop a robust, scalable infrastructure network” that will support autonomous air taxi services using Wisk’s sixth-generation eVTOL.
The companies’ relationship stems back to 2022 when the two released a concept of operations (CONOPS) that explored how autonomous eVTOL aircraft could be integrated into vertiports — expected to already be in place to serve piloted eVTOLs by the time the Wisk aircraft is type certified.
This blueprint for autonomous air taxis included any upgrades, retrofits, and procedural changes that might be needed at vertiport sites to accommodate autonomous aircraft. It also explored physical aircraft requirements, passenger accommodation, schedule management, navigational aids, and airspace design, among other issues.
In this latest partnership announcement, the companies said they are working together to look for vertiport locations in SEQ, with a focus on larger metropolitan areas like Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast.
They also plan to complete an analysis of regional travel patterns, conduct feasibility studies, and engage with potential landlords and nearby communities to develop that infrastructure network.
“Skyports has already been a strong partner to Wisk, and we are proud to build on the work we’re doing already, this time in Australia,” said Brian Yutko, CEO of Wisk.
The fully-owned Boeing subsidiary has been interested in the Australian region for some time now — at least since 2022 when Wisk started working with the Council of Mayors in SEQ, which is home to around four million people.
“The region is undergoing rapid and extensive development ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Wisk said in a press release. Over the next 20 years, its population could swell to six million people, the company said.
“The advanced air mobility sector is an exciting new development for South East Queensland and is expected to contribute over $66 billion to the Australian economy by 2040,” said Scott Smith, CEO of the Council of Mayors.
With over a decade of experience and more than 1,750 test flights using its various prototypes, Wisk had long planned to go straight to market with a pilotless eVTOL aircraft — the timeline for which will be largely dependent on the readiness of aviation authorities like the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“Our [certification] timeline is dictated by the FAA,” Wisk policy manager David Oord previously told Vertical. “With that said, we would like to say that we will be in commercial service before the end of the decade.”
In the U.S., the eVTOL firm recently partnered with Houston Airports, earmarking the Greater Houston Region as one of its U.S. launch markets. With plans to operate its own aircraft, Wisk has applied for its part 135 air carrier certificate and will use Bell 206 helicopters to carry out single-pilot instrument flight rules (IFR) trial operations, before adding its yet-to-be-certified eVTOL aircraft to its certificate.
Wisk’s eVTOL, which will still operate with human oversight from the ground, is designed to take off and land like a helicopter, but uses its tiltrotors to transition and then cruise on its wings.
