Page 10 - AAA January / February 2023 Latest Magazine | GBP

Urban Air Mobility

PREPARING FOR LIFT-OFF

mobility (UAM) sector and the speed at which it is maturing, it
THE GLOBAL URBAN would be a surprise if at least a few of them are not household
AIR MOBILITY (UAM) names before the end of the current decade.
SECTOR LOOKS SET FOR It is not just start-up companies that are eager to grab the early
bird advantage; industry bigwigs such as Airbus, Boeing, Bell, and
SPEEDY GROWTH AS Embraer are also in advanced stages of developing UAM vehicles.

COMPANIES COMPETE Keeping pace with the efforts of companies to bring air taxis
into the market are global regulatory agencies, some of which
TO BRING EVTOL are working in tandem to ensure that the technology is failproof
and that the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft
AIRCRAFT INTO THE in development meets the highest safety standards. Efforts are

MARKET AND BUILD also on to enable air taxis and other eVTOL aircraft to fly among
other aircraft that occupy the same lower airspace. Although
THE INFRASTRUCTURE the infrastructure necessary to support and enable scaled UAM
operations are not yet in place, considerable progress has bene
NECESSARY FOR made in that segment as well.
OPERATIONS There are two significant tailwinds for the sector: the aviation
industry’s focus on sustainability and the need all over the world
for faster modes of intracity transportation of people and cargo.
 Arun Sivasankaran With urban roadways becoming increasingly congested, air taxis
offer a very promising alternative. According to McKinsey experts
Eviation, Lilium, Joby Aviation, Volocopter, Robin Riedel, Kersten Heineke, and Benedikt Kloss, electric air-
Tetra, Wisk Aero, Archer Aviation, Supernal, craft could become a popular mode of transportation and a
Archer Aviation; none of these companies viable alternative to traditional taxis, over the coming decade.
have fully entered public consciousness yet. According to analysts, the total worth of the UAM global market
However, given the potential of the urban air worth is expected to touch US$1.5 trillion by 2040.

10 | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2023 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/AAA