The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority board approved an electric vertical takeoff and landing demonstration pad at Orlando International Airport on July 15. The small vertistop will sit in Surface Lot Atlantis beside the airport's Train Station.
The pad will support eVTOL test flights with the Federal Aviation Administration, Florida Department of Transportation, NASA, local air traffic control and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The project still needs FAA approval and FDOT support before construction moves ahead.
GOAA will use the demonstrations to test routes, communications and procedures without disrupting regular commercial traffic. The airport identified the train-station site after high-fidelity airspace simulations and plans to use it as a step toward passenger and cargo air-taxi service.
Orlando International Airport's current target is an FAA-approved commercial vertiport by 2030 with room for multiple operators. The demonstration pad has no announced opening date.
Image: Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.