On March 14, Costa Rica launched the first passenger drone flight in Latin America. The aircraft took off from the heliport located at Reserva Conchal and flew over the golf course, the coastal area, the sea, and a large area of the resort.
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) or Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) is a new safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation solution for both passengers and goods, thanks to the use of electric vertical take-off and landing air vehicles (eVTOLs – Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) that has been presented for the first time in Latin America.
This revolution in electric and automated aerial mobility comes to Costa Rica motivated by the alliance of these three partners whose common goal is to promote sustainability in Costa Rica by guaranteeing a better quality of life and well-being for its citizens through the potential and advantages that eVTOL vehicles (electric and vertical take-off and landing) can bring to urban and peri-urban mobility.
As part of this common strategy, Bluenest by Globalvia, Guanacaste Airport, and Reserva Conchal aligned to present this new air mobility solution and the benefits it brings to society and the environment.
The companies mentioned that those benefits include zero emissions of CO2 and other particulates, reducing pollution as it is an eco-sustainable transport system, low noise levels and turbulence, connectivity and socio-economic development in rural and mountainous areas, islands or coastal zones, and reduction of traffic density without the need to deploy costly ground infrastructure; and versatility.
They also presented specific use cases for Costa Rica, ranging from tourist routes with panoramic views to faster transfers from the airport to the center of the country, or urgent delivery of medicines to remote areas.
In order to bring this new way of traveling closer to future users, the travel experience of a person wishing to travel from one end of the country to the other was presented, representing the phases that the user would go through, including boarding the aircraft and landing at the destination.
This milestone makes Costa Rica the pioneer country in Latin America in advanced aerial mobility and is the first step in a more ambitious and common goal: to promote sustainability and innovation in Costa Rica by guaranteeing a better quality of life and well-being for its citizens through the potential and advantages that eVTOLs can bring to mobility.
“We are convinced that Costa Rica is the perfect place to develop this mobility of the future that today has taken off and landed in this country. To have made this milestone a reality, thanks to the collaboration with our partners, reflects our strong commitment to the project and to this region,” said Fernando Vallejo Lázaro, Director of Innovation, IT, and Sustainability, Globalvia.
