Mexico to experience ‘boom’ in aerial mobility with drones

In a period of no more than five years, the skies of Mexico could become daily routes for manned drones that perform panoramic flights, package deliveries and even urban transfers, according to Cristina Lara Jimenez, CEO of AirMobility, a Mexican company focused on promoting aerial mobility through this type of aircraft.

The first step in AirMobility's vision has already been taken and was achieved in early March, the first official flight of an eVTOL without pilot in Mexico, a feat that was achieved through a partnership with the Chinese company E-Hang.

“My expectation is that there is no turning back. This is a global trend,” said Lara Jimenez, who believes that the entry of manned eVTOLs in the country will be to start recreational flights, and then move on to delivery of packages and transfers.

“There are already companies dedicated to promoting these flights in the country and with that, panoramic flights can be initiated, which will help Mexico to see many hours of flights of this type of equipment and give confidence so that, in the medium term, they can be in cities connecting and delivering packages, giving routes that decongest the traffic we have on the ground. So, yes, I imagine that this has to happen in the next 5 years”, added the director.

But for a true integration of urban mobility, private investment will need the help of the Mexican government, especially in the installation of vertiports.

“Just as they are thinking about parking meters or that parking lots can have charging modules for electric vehicles, they also have to start bringing these landing and take-off points on the radar,” said AirMobility's CEO.

“Yes, there is interest on the part of some state governments that have been starting to approach us, to say 'how do I have to regulate this or what do I have to build?' The truth is that they did not have it on their radar yet. This first flight has given them the opportunity to begin to visualize that the world is going to change in the medium term, the way cities move is going to change,” she said.