blackmaps geospatial, an aviation-focused geospatial consultancy based in New Zealand, specializes in safeguarding aerodrome airspace. Co-founders Maksym Khovalko and Bevan Lewell, industry experts in technology-driven mapping and aviation, wanted to deliver interactive maps that were accessible, intuitive, and scalable—without the need for extensive development resources.
“We wanted to stay focused on our core mission—offering expert aerodrome safeguarding services—while giving clients a platform to interact with their data in meaningful ways,” explains Maksym.
Traditional GIS tools presented challenges: they were complex, didn’t align with blackmaps’ vision for simplicity, or relied on costly licensing models. “Our goal was to make accessing geospatial insights easy for our clients, without adding barriers like user account management or software licensing,” Maksym says.
When Maksym built his first map on Felt, he immediately saw its potential to deliver high-quality visualizations quickly. When Felt launched dashboards, the features aligned perfectly with blackmaps’ goals.
“We had already mapped out how we wanted our dashboards to look and function, and Felt’s roadmap matched our needs,” Maksym explains. “When we pushed a feature to its limit, Felt was quick to deliver updates—sometimes the exact thing we needed arrived the next day.”
Maksym built blackmaps’ first client-facing dashboard in less than a week. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. “Clients and industry experts told us they’d never seen such an intuitive and comprehensive GIS solution tailored for airports.”
Since adopting Felt dashboards in July 2024, blackmaps has:
One standout moment came when blackmaps recovered a client who had initially chosen another provider. “After sharing our dashboard, they reversed their decision and signed a long-term contract,” Maksym recalls.
