The aeronautical company Pegasus Aero Group, CATEC, the Advanced Centre for Aerospace Technologies and the leading company in the development and management of airports Bluenest by Globalvia, have signed a collaboration agreement coinciding with the celebration of UNVEX, the largest European meeting of unmanned aircraft professionals, to create a Centre dedicated to the validation and testing of drones in advanced aerial and urban mobility.
This Centre, which will be located in Aerópolis (Seville), will mainly develop projects for testing unmanned platforms, installations and services in vertiports and flight tests with drones in urban areas and complements other initiatives that are being developed in Seville in relation to UAS and advanced aerial mobility.
The Centre will have state-of-the-art facilities, such as a reserved area of the heliport of Seilaf, a subsidiary of Grupo Pegasus, where CATEC researchers will be able to conduct flight tests, avionics checks, payloads, maintenance operations and drone pilot training, among other uses. In addition, Bluenest will have a team of expert engineers in infrastructure and IT that will develop an advanced operational solution for advanced vertiports for large autonomous drones and electric passenger aircraft in collaboration with other entities with common initiatives. Pegasus Aero Group will bring its more than 50 years of experience as an operator of manned and, in the immediate future, also unmanned aircraft for the development of procedures and support in the management of permits with the competent authority.
In this regard, the main focus will be on the validation of infrastructure and drones specifically designed for urban aerial mobility. These developments can be used for a variety of applications, such as parcel delivery, traffic surveillance, air taxis and infrastructure inspection, among other services. It is expected that these technologies will not only improve the efficiency of urban services, but also contribute to reducing congestion and carbon emissions.
In addition, these three entities will work to incorporate knowledge agents and universities into the project.
The agreement was signed by the Innovation Director of Pegasus Aero Group, Jose Luis Quirós, the General Director of CATEC, Joaquín Rodríguez, and the General Director of Bluenest by Globalvia, José Ignacio Rodríguez.
The Managing Director of Bluenest by Globalvia, José Ignacio Rodríguez, added ‘we consider this strategic alliance with companies with which we already collaborate in several initiatives and projects in Andalusia and other regions to be very relevant. By joining forces with natural and strategic partners in urban air mobility, we multiply the results and scope’.
The Managing Director of CATEC, Joaquín Rodríguez, stressed that ‘this collaboration represents a leap forward in Andalusia's capacity for the validation of UAS technologies and urban aerial mobility, hand in hand with three entities that have a recognised track record in the sector, and that are committed to the development of this new type of mobility, thus adding new initiatives to continue promoting the business fabric’.
The Innovation Director of Pegasus Aero Group, José Luis Quiros stressed that ‘the complementarity of the three partners, each contributing very relevant capabilities in their area of expertise, can only lead to faster and more solid progress towards achieving the objectives and contribute to the positioning of Seville as a benchmark in the field of urban mobility’.
