GE Digital Announces Collaboration with Varon Vehicles to Create Future of Flight Connected Ecosystem

GE Digital has announced the signing of a memo of understanding to collaborate with Varon Vehicles Corporation on the development of a solution for airspace efficiency, safety, and predictive maintenance. This partnership builds on GE Digital’s expertise in analytics software to produce a solution to facilitate better routing operations in Latin America, starting in Colombia.

Varon Vehicles is developing Urban Air Mobility, an innovative transportation system with new enabling technologies using currently untapped airspaces in a confined and safe way. It consists of a series of Vertiports connected to each other via well-defined low altitude virtual lanes through which the company’s air vehicles will fly, without adding a burden on Air Traffic Control or mixing with traditional aviation. Varon Vehicles’ plan is to place their Vertiports both inside and outside existing urban structures to alleviate the pressure for city growth. They will provide transportation services to the logistics, tourism and medical markets and customers like governments and ride hailing companies for air taxi services, all without the need for physical construction. This project will initially target the cargo transportation and tourism markets.

“With plans for introduction of Urban Air Mobility operations in major cities, digital tools and systems will be needed to connect and monitor electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) in confined and controlled airspaces,” said Felipe Varon, CEO and Founder of Varon Vehicles Corporation.

The collaborative solution will leverage Varon Vehicles’ new Urban Air Mobility system to create a connected ecosystem that addresses operational efficiencies while ensuring safe operations of this new form of urban and sub-urban aviation.

Urban Air Mobility requires a new set of measurements and flight profiles as these new aircraft increase their non-conventional operations in cities. Ensuring the safety for passengers, citizens and traditional aviation will be key for the adequate deployment and operation of this new ecosystem. Sustainability and life cycle tracking for batteries and components will be paramount. Connecting to users and passengers in a proactive way, will ensure and allow the system to be used in a safe and easy way, understanding what to expect on the route and flight.

“Our collaboration with a company like GE Digital is of utmost importance as we develop our new concept for aviation, in many aspects from the ground up,” Varon continued. “Being able to leverage GE’s uncontested experience in aviation is of tremendous value, and we will work together to bring efficiency to our operations to make them robust, reliable and safe.”

“Varon Vehicles is a great example of moving the industry forward as we all return to flight,” said Andrew Coleman, General Manager of GE Digital’s Aviation Software business. “Sustainability is in their DNA with their focus on electric vehicles and we look forward to working with them on this ambitious project.”