Local officials are preparing the city for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) operations, with these new crafts expecting to take flight by the latter half of 2027 and into early 2028.
Although years out, Alicia Winkelblech, Arlington’s director of transportation, and other city officials are preparing the city for this new mode of transportation. Officials hope to have a functional and usable vertiport by the time the FIFA World Cup arrives in 2026.
“We may not have the ultimate vertiport that we envision built on day one,” said Winkelblech, per the Fort Worth Report. “We may have something functional that we add to as we learn a little bit more about: What is the demand? What are the use patterns? Who are the users?”
Late last year, the city of Arlington announced that it had entered a partnership with advanced air mobility company Overair to begin electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) operations starting at Arlington Municipal Airport. This was also the “first-ever direct partnership” between a Texas city and an eVTOL company to develop vertiports, charging infrastructure, and rideshare capabilities, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Overair is set to test its first full-scale prototype of its “Butterfly” model, capable of passenger, cargo medical, and even military purposes this year. North Texans can expect to see this model in the skies in the coming years.
John Criezis, Overair’s head of mobility operations, told FWR that the craft’s four large tilt-rotors, each 20 feet in diameter, will spin slowly, allowing the craft to fly quietly.
“You can imagine a future where these are landing closer to where people live or closer to where they work, and it’s going to be really important that these are much, much, much quieter than helicopters today,” said Criezis, per FWR. “Otherwise, people would not like having those in their neighborhoods.”
This model, however, has not yet received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Criezis expects the craft to be approved between late 2027 and early 2028.
The supposed appearance of eVTOLs in North Texas skies precedes an expected boom in the overall market. Researchers expect the market to skyrocket, surpassing $11.05 billion by 2030, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
