Cushman & Wakefield on Hunt for Flying Taxi Sites

As electric air taxi services approach Federal Aviation Administration approval, one of the nation’s biggest operators of aircraft landing sites is working to secure real estate in Los Angeles.

VertiPorts by Atlantic, a subsidiary of Atlantic Aviation, has tapped Cushman & Wakefield to secure leases for “vertiports,” or landing pads for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The rush to find sites in the L.A. area, whether they be rooftops or open land, comes as the city gears up to host the 2028 Olympics. San Jose-based Archer Aviation is already partnering with LA28 to roll out a fleet of electric air taxis in the hope of stymieing some of the expected car traffic. Archer’s air taxis will purportedly offer 10- to 20-minute flights between SoFi Stadium, LAX and various hubs from Santa Monica to Orange County.

The goal is to divert passengers from busy surface roads “where it should take 30 minutes to get from point A to point B, but it takes an hour and a half,” VertiPorts by Atlantic CEO Kevin Cox told the Times. “Southern California area has got a lot of challenges in terms of congestion on the roadway.”

As for where the vertiports could be created across Southern California, Cox predicted we will see “two or three dozen scattered around the market that will truly transform how people move through and between cities.” Santa Monica, downtown L.A. and Culver City, then, could be prime targets.

Those worried about safety shouldn’t fret, as professional pilots will be charged with flying the eVTOL vehicles, not everyday people like George Jetson.

Still, because eVTOLs are such a new technology, there are no FAA regulations on how they can be used.

“The real challenge for these is getting local land use entitlements,” Mike Condon Jr., a commercial property broker with Cushman & Wakefield, told the Times. “There’s nowhere in zoning codes that says how flying taxis can take off.”

Atlantic Aviation already operates a network of private plane terminals at airports across the countries, with more than 100 across North America including at LAX, Santa Monica Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport and Long Beach Airport. Those could eventually also double as eVTOL takeoff and landing sites.

“We expect a lot of travel will start from those,” Condon said. “Leave from the airport and don’t fight traffic.”

— Chris Malone Méndez