(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Abu Dhabi Airports will build over 10 vertiports for air taxi and eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) operations to enhance connectivity within the Capital and other emirates, its chief executive said on Monday.

“We see ourselves as an enabler of the Abu Dhabi vision to enhance trade, tourism, and connectivity element of Abu Dhabi. Our vision is to shape the future of airport experience. We are going to be in charge of developing more than 10 vertiports across Abu Dhabi. We are already developing vertiports inside Al Batina airport, which is going to become the hub because it's conveniently located in the heart of the city,” said Elena Sorlini, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi Airports.

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“We need to enable the connectivity of Abu Dhabi to the world, but we also want to enable the connectivity of our airports to the rest of the city and other emirates in the UAE. Hence, focus on intermodal connectivity. We are going to see the first operations in 2026 to enhance the passenger experience,” she said during a panel discussion at the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week 2025 held in the UAE capital on Monday.

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Led by Abu Dhabi, the UAE has been aggressively pushing for this new mode of transport to provide a new experience to residents and visitors, as well as to ease traffic in the country. Abu Dhabi has tied up with the US company Archer Aviation to roll out air taxi operations in UAE from next year. It is expected that the regulations for the eVTOL will be approved by the third quarter of next year.

Biometrics at Abu Dhabi Airport

Abu Dhabi Airports' chief executive also revealed that biometric solutions have been implemented in five of the nine touch points for a better passenger experience.

“We're going to roll them out to the entire journey, because we want our passengers to have a seamless experience, and this helps us enhance our capacity, safety, and security.”

Abu Dhabi Airports reported double-digit passenger traffic growth for an 18th consecutive quarter during the third quarter of 2025, while demonstrating continued growth in flights and cargo serviced.

Between July 1 to September 30, 2025, Abu Dhabi Airports received 8.49 million passengers, a significant 10.1 per cent increase over figures from the same period in 2024. Zayed International Airport, Abu Dhabi's flagship gateway, recorded 8.35 million passengers through its gates until the end of September, an increase of 10.4 per cent year-on-year.

She elaborated that Abu Dhabi Airports is rolling out the solution now to transfer passengers as well, because it aims to have 100 per cent of operations paperless.

Badr Al Olama, director-general, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, and Tony Han, founder, chairman, and CEO of WeRide, also attended the panel discussion.

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