Sarla Aviation and Urban-Air Port Sign MOU to Build Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure in India

Sarla Aviation and Urban-Air Port Sign MOU to Build Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure in India

Urban-Air Port (UAP) and Sarla Aviation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), joining forces to advance the future of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) in India.

As the world's most populous country, India stands at a pivotal moment in its potential to become one of the most significant AAM markets globally. However, a thriving ecosystem requires more than aircraft alone — it demands comprehensive infrastructure, operational frameworks, and regulatory structures to enable safe, scalable commercial flight. This includes vertiports, charging facilities, passenger handling services, and airspace integration.

Key Areas of Collaboration

Under the terms of the MOU, the two companies will:

• Integrate UAP's vertiport infrastructure with the Shunya aircraft platform
• Develop a phased roadmap for vertiport deployment across Indian cities
• Work with India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) toward future licensing for commercial vertiport operations in India
• Evaluate potential deployment sites in major metropolitan areas and at strategic locations designated by state governments

UAP CEO: Infrastructure Is the Real Challenge for AAM

Urban-Air Port CEO Andrea Wu stated: "Urban-Air Port has always believed that the real challenge for Advanced Air Mobility is not a single demonstration site, but commercialization at network scale. Four vertiports do not make a transportation system. While most of the industry has remained focused on aircraft airworthiness certification, we have spent seven years concentrating on the infrastructure, operational models, and deployment solutions needed to support AAM at scale. For AAM to succeed, the industry needs infrastructure that is repeatable, rapidly deployable, and capable of integrating into existing cities while scaling with demand."

UAP is the team behind Air One — the world's first fully operational Advanced Air Mobility hub demonstration. Air One launched in Coventry, United Kingdom in April 2022, successfully integrating aircraft operations, charging infrastructure, passenger handling, and regulatory coordination in a real urban environment. UAP also brings extensive experience working with leading global aerospace and mobility partners including Honda, Supernal, and Airbus.

Complementary Strengths to Build India's AAM Ecosystem

By combining UAP's rapidly deployable vertiport infrastructure and operational expertise with Sarla's Shunya eVTOL platform, the two companies will work together to develop the infrastructure, operational frameworks, and deployment strategies required to support the commercial rollout of AAM in India.

As aircraft programs progress toward airworthiness certification, infrastructure readiness is becoming increasingly critical. The shared goal is to ensure that vertiport deployment, operational planning, and regulatory engagement advance in lockstep — so that when Shunya enters commercial service, the surrounding ecosystem is ready to scale alongside it.

Andrea Wu added: "India has the population, the ambition, and the rapid urbanization to become one of the most important AAM markets in the world — and the opportunity to be among the first to achieve commercial deployment at meaningful scale. Sarla is building an aircraft designed for India, and Urban-Air Port has spent years solving the infrastructure problem. Together, we can move beyond demonstration and start building real route networks."

India is not merely an adopter of AAM — it has the opportunity to define what large-scale AAM deployment looks like in practice.

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