Advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure specialists LynePorts and Bluenest have teamed with hybrid hydrogen-electric VTOL aircraft developer Lyte Aviation to pave the way for new vertiports at locations in the Middle East. The partners announced their alliance on March 27, saying that the initial focus of their joint efforts will be in Oman and the UAE.

UK-based Lyte Aviation is developing both the passenger-carrying SkyBus LA-44 model that could carry between 19 and 40 people, and the SkyTruck freighter with a payload of around 9,900 pounds. The standard projected range for both aircraft, which will feature a hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion system developed by H3 Dynamics, will be 1,000 kilometers (544 nm).

According to Lyte Aviation, it already holds preorders for 23 examples of the VTOL aircraft, which it said are collectively valued at €920 million ($992 million). The company has estimated that, based on 40 passengers on the SkyBus for flights of between 15 and 30 minutes, the ticket price might be around $39 per seat.

Lyte and its partners anticipate that the VTOL aircraft will need to operate from vertiports with dimensions of around 40 meters (131 feet) by 40 meters. They said that their work in Oman is focused on meeting transportation requirements spelled out in the country’s Vision 2040 master plan, and they are pursuing similar objectives in the UAE, where four-passenger eVTOL aircraft developers Archer and Joby already have agreements to launch short-range air taxi services.

Spain-based Bluenest is the AAM business unit of transportation infrastructure group Globalvia, while LynePorts, which is headquartered in Romania, specializes in aviation planning and design software. They will support Lyte Aviation in developing vertiport concepts for locations the companies hope to be able to disclose in the coming months.

According to Lyte Aviation CEO Freshta Farzam, the SkyBus and SkyTruck will be attractive alternatives to lengthy road journeys in the Middle East and other regions. She anticipates demand from sectors including hospitality and tourism, logistics, and corporate and governmental transportation.