Aeroberm has released its Low Altitude Economy Vertiport Market Study for Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area at LEAP East 2026 in Hong Kong, charting the region’s transition from pilot programs toward full commercial rollout of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
The release comes as Hong Kong accelerates its “Regulatory Sandbox X” program, with EHang, partnering with Kwoon Chung Smart Mobility and Hong Kong Cyberport, and AutoFlight, partnering with AECOM and China Travel Service, selected for the initiative’s first batch of trial projects. Combined with mainland China’s rapid low-altitude infrastructure build-out just across the border in Shenzhen, this momentum signals Hong Kong’s emergence as a genuine air taxi hub within the Greater Bay Area.
Shenzhen has already constructed 1,284 low-altitude take-off and landing sites, surpassing its 2026 target of 1,200 ahead of schedule, backed by 12 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) in government investment. However, that infrastructure is overwhelmingly built for drones, logistics, and general aviation, meaning Shenzhen does not yet have a network of dedicated, purpose-built passenger vertiports. Aeroberm’s market study is designed to quantify this precise gap, forecasting an installed base of 500 to 1,000 modular passenger vertipads by 2030, rising to 1,500 to 2,000 by 2035 and 7,000 to 8,000 by 2045 as commercial passenger air taxi operations begin in earnest.
Over that same period, the Shenzhen market is forecast to grow from today’s early-stage activity to between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion by 2035, and US$4 billion to US$6 billion by 2045, supporting an estimated 54 million annual passenger trips. Nationally, China’s air taxi market is projected to reach US$40 billion to US$60 billion by 2045.
Clem Newton-Brown, Founder and CEO of Skyportz and creator of Aeroberm, stated, “Shenzhen has built the world’s most advanced low-altitude logistics network, but passenger vertiports are still an open question, not just here but everywhere.
“Hong Kong’s entry into a sandbox alongside AutoFlight and EHang shows this region is moving faster than almost anywhere else in the world on both aircraft and airspace. What’s still missing is standardised, safety-validated ground infrastructure purpose-built for passenger eVTOL. That’s the gap Aeroberm exists to fill, and the Greater Bay Area is exactly where we want to build it.”
Alongside the study, Skyportz is in active discussions with local infrastructure companies to collaborate on rolling out Aeroberm’s modular vertipad network across China, positioning the company to move quickly as Hong Kong’s sandbox trials progress and Shenzhen’s build-out continues.
Newton-Brown will be speaking at LEAP East and available to meet investors at Aeroberm’s stand, H3 P137, throughout the event. With its full-scale prototype currently in fabrication ahead of a global commercial launch, Aeroberm is seeking strategic partners and first-mover investors to help scale the technology across the Greater Bay Area and other frontier air taxi markets.
