Skyports

Skyports is a UK-based drone logistics company that owns and operates both passenger and cargo vertiports (vertical landing and take-off sites) for urban aviation and manages end-to-end drone deliveries. Its drone delivery services are marketed to medical, ecommerce, and logistics industries. Its drones can carry a payload of 330 lbs, covering a range of 300 miles. It also allows a single drone pilot to operate multiple delivery drones simultaneously beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS).

In September 2021, Skyports obtained the “Light UAS Operator Certificate” (LUC) from the Irish Aviation Authority, which is recognized across the EU and permits self-authorized BVLOS operations.

Key customers and partnerships

The company conducted medical delivery trials with various parties on behalf of the National Health Service (NHS), UK, which it officially launched in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, in February 2021. It has also conducted drone-based delivery trials in partnership with parties including,

1. Royal Mail for deliveries in Isle of Mull, Scotland (December 2020), Isle of Scilly, UK (May 2021), and Orkney, Scotland (April 2023)

2. Australian drone-based health logistics provider Swoop Aero for trials in the UK (January 2021), which was later extended to include Europe and Americas (August 2021)

3. FedEx for a drone-based package delivery trial in Ireland (October 2021)

4. Argyll and Bute for school lunch deliveries in Oban (June 2022)

5. EMED Group, a logistics provider to the UK NHS, for a month-long drone-based medical delivery trial in UK (August 2023)

6. Equinor, a Norwegian energy firm, to conduct drone-based deliveries to oil rigs in the North Sea (September 2023).

In addition to its primary operations in Europe, the company expanded its geographical footprint to include,

Japan via an extended partnership with Kanematsu Corporation, a Japanese trading company, in April 2021 (initially partnered in 2020)

Kenya, in partnership with Kenya Airways, also in April 2021

South Korea, partnering with Kencoa Aerospace, a global aerospace solution supplier and manufacturer (September 2021); and RigiTech, a drone-based logistics services provider (October 2023)

Colombia and wider Latin America via a joint venture with low-cost carrier Irelandia Aviation in October 2021, for various passenger and cargo transport projects

Singapore, with several partnerships to introduce drone-based ship-to-shore delivery services

US, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), with plans to launch commercial operations in the US (December 2021)

The company also has product partnerships with 1) Kongsberg Geospatial to integrate its IRIS airspace awareness technology into its drone delivery system (May 2021) and 2) Pyka to integrate the latter’s heavy payload electric vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) into its fleets (January 2023).

Funding and financials

In April 2024, Skyports raised GBP 88.3 million (USD 110 million) in a Series C round led by ACS Group's subsidiary, to launch air-taxi services in Dubai by 2026.