Gol makes partnerships to accelerate the arrival of the ‘flying car’ in Brazil

A partnership between Gol and major global aviation and airport companies announced its intention to explore the infrastructure requirements to bring eVTOL passenger flight, an electric aircraft called “flying car”, to Brazil this decade.

In addition to Gol, the partnership includes:

• avolon, global aircraft leasing company;
• Corporation America Airportsglobal private sector airport operator by number of airports;
• Behavior Group, one of the main Brazilian transport operators; and
• vertical aerospacean aerospace and technology company that develops and manufactures eVTOL aircraft.

The partnership will explore and define the design and locations of vertiports (or vertiports – vertical take-off and landing airports), as well as other infrastructure requirements for eVTOL operations in Brazil.

With its well-developed Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market based on helicopter services, advanced aviation ecosystem and unique demographics, Brazil is set to become one of the pioneer markets for eVTOL services, including for Vertical’s VX4.

Each partner brings industry-specific and complementary expertise to put eVTOLs into operation in Brazil this decade. In particular, the partnership will benefit from Corporación América Airports’ special team dedicated to the research and development of the Advanced Air Mobility segment (Advanced Air Mobility). – AAM) and its two-decade experience in airport design, construction and operation, as well as passenger traffic management. Corporación América Airports has already developed its own conceptual design of vertiport and advanced the analysis of AAM traffic in several countries.

With some of the most congested cities in the world, the introduction of eVTOLs could transform the way people move around and over the urban landscape in Brazil. The VX4 will enable zero-emission short-haul travel, changing the way we connect, commute and travel more efficiently, all in a more sustainable way.

This partnership builds on Gol and Grupo Comporte’s commitment to purchase or lease up to 250 Vertical VX4 eVTOL aircraft from Avolon, announced last year.

The working group has already held project familiarization workshops with the Brazilian civil aviation authority, Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency), to enable rapid validation of the zero-emission, four-passenger VX4 aircraft. The vehicle is designed to have speeds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h), range in excess of 100 miles (160 km), be near-silent in flight and offer a low cost per passenger mile.