Skyway Technologies has partnered with Moonware to help prepare vertiports and other ground infrastructure for the impending arrival of next-generation aircraft such as eVTOL air taxis, the companies announced on Thursday.

San Rafael, California-based Skyway is working on air traffic control projects for urban air mobility (UAM), such as navigation services for drones and autonomous aircraft, vertiport planning, and vertiport airspace management services.

Moonware, another Californian start-up, offers automated solutions for ground operations in aviation. For example, it is developing a fully autonomous, electrically powered aircraft tow tug that it says will be capable of moving eVTOL aircraft around vertiports (as well as larger airliners at airports) while reducing noise, energy consumption, and handling costs. It is also building an app-based tool called Halo, which is an airside software operating system designed to automate ground services such as crew scheduling and dispatching and the allocation of ground support equipment.

The two companies plan to work together to digitally integrate ground operations with UATM systems. While the primary objective is to support the operations of vertiports serving eVTOLs and other next-generation aircraft, these automated services could also be used by airline operators at other airports to streamline workflows.

“This partnership enables ground operations to be digitally integrated into UATM systems from the very start, agnostic of the type of airfield, and equips operators with a tool that will streamline their airside workflow,” said Moonware CEO Javier Vidal.

“Effective ground operations are critical to establishing long-term revenue growth for vertiport stakeholders, including airline operators,” added Skyway CEO Clifford Cruz. “Vertiport uptime and organization of assets via Moonware's technologies will increase Skyway's facility operation offerings value proposition.”

Skyway is also working with Eve Air Mobility to integrate its planned vertiport services with Eve’s urban air traffic management (UATM) software. And last week, the company announced its collaboration with global tech giant Siemens to evaluate the electrical infrastructure needs for vertiports, such as sustainable energy supplies and standard charging processes.

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