A New Era in Advanced Air Mobility
The future of air mobility looks promising. With ambitions to offer an all-electric air mobility service for the Olympic Games in Paris the following year, the young industry is poised to reach a significant milestone. To create the framework for the service that will be based on Volocopter’s VoloCity air taxi, businesses and authorities are partnering. Pilot hiring is expected to start by the end of the year, and further Volocopter services are anticipated to follow in Rome in 2024 and Osaka for Expo 2025.
Along with other initiatives already under way, these plans herald a significant turning point for the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry as it goes from PowerPoint presentations through prototypes and into commercial operation.
Demystifying the regulatory procedure, which many potential investors find difficult to comprehend, is one of the main goals. However, early interest from a number of significant airlines has fueled the AAM sector’s inevitable rise. The conventional commercial aviation industry understands that AAM is only one of many significant innovations that have influenced airline travel and that it is crucial to get involved early to change the industry.
The drive for decarbonization, which is mostly dependent on synthetic aviation fuel, won’t completely meet the needs of the aviation sector, which is a compelling case in favor of electric-powered AAM. All-electric power is more than enough to meet immediate short-range urban/suburban needs as well as regional needs out to 400–500 km.
It is highly unlikely that long-distance travel will change until alternate power sources, such hydrogen, are demonstrated, which might not happen until the 2040s.
One speaker at Tuesday’s EBACE Newsmaker’s Lunch asserted that the technology is already available to replace 90% of the fleet of short-range turbine helicopters, while also increasing accessibility to more landing sites thanks to more sociably acceptable noise levels and reduced space and infrastructure needs.
The majority of urban locations on the planet are well suited to AAM solutions, although some have a greater need than others. Given the lack of land for more extensive aviation infrastructure and congested ground transit routes, cities like Sao Paulo and Delhi are expressing a lot of interest. The two main U.S. cities—Los Angeles and New York—also fall into this category, particularly in relation to linking business districts to airports. Hong Kong, too, is another prime candidate.
The issue of pilot license and rating is one area of AAM that still needs further standardization. The fact that different OEMs have implemented various control system strategies is a contributing aspect in this. It is easier to develop a cover-all license for traditional airplanes because the cockpit and controls often follow a similar design among OEMs. However, in the AAM industry, this is not the case.
