I was happy to read in a recent letter that there are others who feel the need for some type of easy access to commercial flights from Sussex County. As the writer pointed out, New Castle was a bust due to its close proximity to Philadelphia, and the Wicomico Airport (Salisbury, Md.) offers only limited service to two hub locations in Philly and Charlotte. While I believe a commercial airline would struggle financially with flights in and out of Georgetown, I would offer an alternative approach focused on the advanced air mobility sector, sometimes also referred to as urban air mobility.
This market segment will utilize short-haul electrically powered “air taxis” to deliver passengers to larger airports, train stations and other transportation hubs in metropolitan areas using more environmentally friendly technologies with zero-carbon emissions. These electrically powered air taxis have a range of more than 150 miles and can reach speeds of about 200 mph, giving them the ability to transport passengers to Philadelphia International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport and even Dulles from Georgetown in less than one hour. While this technology is still a few years away from receiving full FAA approval, companies like Joby, Lilium, Volocopter, Urban Aeronautics and Tetra are perfecting electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, and have recently made great strides in flight testing and system validation. Many of these systems will utilize existing helicopter flight paths, and the aircraft design companies hope to employ existing infrastructure such as heliports/helipads and air traffic control services.
As Sussex County looks to find ways to improve travel to and from the region, and continues to seek to attract industries with good-paying jobs, why not look to this innovative and eco-friendly approach to serving the transportation needs of the community for the long term? I would encourage Sussex County officials and Delaware Coastal Airport administrators to pursue the use of our local airport as a hub for this air taxi industry.
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