An aviation company in Dubai has signed a deal with a Dutch business to bring the world's first flying car to the Middle East and Africa.
Aviterra, an aviation and aerospace component manufacturing company, will buy more than 100 of PAL-V's Liberty flying cars and invest in the European company, they said in a joint statement this week.
While Aviterra will be the sole agent for the Liberty car in the Middle East and Africa, the companies did not specify a timetable for when deliveries will begin in the region.
The two-seat Liberty – described as the world's first flying car because it combines a gyroplane and a car – is akin to something from a James Bond movie in how it transforms from a road vehicle into an aircraft.
eVTOL will be able to use it from port to port. This vehicle will be able to be used from home to home
Mouhanad Wadaa,
managing director, Aviterra
In drive mode, the aircraft's propellers and rear flaps are stored on the roof and in the back of the three-wheeled vehicle, allowing it to reach 100kph in under nine seconds – a rate comparable to a Toyota Hybrid Camry – and has a top speed of 160kph.
Changing into an aircraft takes five minutes, as the helicopter-like blades rise from the roof and the flaps extend from the back. The body of the vehicle also lifts up and two hatches open to reveal the gyroplane's rear propeller.
As an aircraft, it has a flight range of between 400km and 500km and a maximum speed of 180kph. It can reach an altitude of 11,000 feet.
It requires an airstrip or airfield stretching at least 200 metres to take off and land.
The current crop of Liberty flying cars run on regular petrol, but they will be configured to use electricity "once the batteries get lighter", said Robert Dingemanse, chief executive and founder of PAL-V, told The National.
"To have a sensible range of about 500km flying on one leg, current battery technology only allows you to do something like 100km."
The Liberty, priced at $799,000, is aimed at high-end, corporate and government customers. "This mobility is valued by [high-net-worth] individuals, by companies and by governments," Mr Dingemanse said.
"There are different operations like border control, homeland security, military, but also for fast first responders, for example, to get to deserted or hard-to-reach areas."
Home to home
Abu Dhabi and Dubai have made firm commitments to introduce advanced air mobility in the form of eVTOL – electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft – flying taxis in the coming years.
Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority signed agreements in February to have air taxis in the city in the next two years, while the Abu Dhabi Investment Office signed an agreement in October last year to introduce all-electric air taxi operations in 2026.
Adam Goldstein, chief executive of US company Archer Aviation, told a conference in the UAE capital last month that he expected to see eVTOL in the skies by next year.
"As early as 2025 and as late as 2026, you will see eVTOLs flying around Abu Dhabi [and] Dubai ... trips that used to take 60 to 90 minutes on the ground, we can fly you in 10 minutes," Mr Goldstein told the Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi in February.
The major difference between an eVTOL and the Liberty flying car, however, is that the latter offers door-to-door transport.
Mouhanad Wadaa, managing director of Aviterra and one of the founders of private aviation company Jetex, described the flying car as "a new innovation that will change the whole area of air mobility".
"It will fly from your home to your destination unlike the eVTOL," he told The National. "This vehicle will be able to be used from home to home."
Mr Dingemanse said previous innovations have been launched as flying cars, but they did not qualify because they did not travel on the roads. They are "air buses because they bring you from station to station as public transportation", he added.
"A real flying car in our definition flies and drives and is transportation from door to door. And we are, by far, 10 years ahead of anybody else in the world," he said, referring to the certification process, which began in 2012 with its first test flight.
While there are other flying cars being developed, the Liberty will be the first to market, Mr Dingemanse added.
Spanish company Alef Aeronautics, backed by US venture capitalist Tim Draper, is developing a two-seat eVTOL vehicle. It has received its special airworthiness certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the company expects to start production of a final version at the end of 2025.
Alef said it received about 3,000 pre-orders for the vehicle, which costs $300,000.
Slovakia-based KleinVision is also developing a flying vehicle, called Aircar, powered by a BMW engine and conventional fuel. It requires a runway to take off and land.
It was issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority in 2022. On Wednesday, the company announced it sold exclusive rights to manufacture and use the aircraft within a “specific geographical region” of China to Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology.
Final stages
PAL-V, which stands for Personal Air and Land Vehicle, is in the final stage of its certification process with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
"We have full agreement with EASA on what we have to prove now. All the critical things, we have already done and tested over the last six, seven years," Mr Dingemanse said.
He expects to begin deliveries in the first half of next year, starting with the Netherlands. "We are limited in production and we are already sold out for the first three years," Mr Dingemanse said. "We are working on expanding the production capacity."
After the vehicle is approved by the EASA, Aviterra will seek approval from the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority and the various regulators in the region, Mr Wadaa said.
The deal with Aviterra is PAL-V's biggest to date, with the current order book now standing at more than €150 million ($160 million).
PAL-V is funded by 220 investors from all over the world. While several individuals from the Middle East have invested, Aviterra is the first corporate investor.
The agreement also includes an investment in PAL-V through Loggia Investment, the investment arm of Aviterra.
Pilot training
Gyroplane flying "is the easiest and the most safe way of flying there is", Mr Dingemanse said.
Buyers who want to operate the Liberty flying car must first undergo special pilot training. "We have created a full e-learning package for the theoretical part. We have special training for our pilots at a training institute for our customers in the Netherlands," he explained.
"But we are planning to open in Italy, and we probably will work with Jetex also to open something in the UAE for training."
Pilots must have a minimum of 45 hours of lessons before they can operate the flying car, Mr Dingemanse added.
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What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
