The advanced air mobility (AAM) sector is “right on the brink” of significant market disruption supercharged by eVTOL developers who are making progress towards certification, said Prof Dame Helen Atkinson, pro-vice chancellor at Cranfield University’s School of Aerospace, Transport Systems and Manufacturing,
Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s President’s Summit 2023: Future of Flight in London, Atkinson said the industry was approaching a “generational moment” with the rapidly maturing ecosystem of vertiport and aircraft developers.
Joby Aviation, Volocopter, eHang, Lilium, and Vertical Aerospace are among the key players hoping to bring aircraft to market in the coming years.
A recent report into AAM by PWC found that by 2040 there could be a £2.1bn annual socioeconomic benefit for the UK economy, bringing £297m in fare values and 222m tons of CO2 reduction in annual emissions, equivalent to taking 120,000 diesel cars off the road.
‘Transformational AAM’
Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker, Future Flight Social Science Research Director, University of Birmingham, said AAM “has the potential to be transformational in ways that transcend traditional aviation”.
Speaking at the Future of Flight event, she warned that the acceptance of AAM among the general public hinged on the perceived socioeconomic benefit AAM brought to their local community.
EVTOL use for emergency services, or to connect rural locations with poor existing connectivity, were more likely to attract support than other commercial use cases, in urban settings for example.
“There are a complex set of social, cultural and political issues and concerns about AAM,” she said.
The University of Birmingham has been leading research to engage with communities across the UK to better understand how AAM technologies can be developed in a way that responds to social needs, concerns or expectations.
Researchers hope that drawing on the public’s views will enable better understanding of how the social benefits of these new technologies might be made accessible to a wider cross-section of UK society.
