Page 13 - AAA January / February 2023 Latest Magazine | GBP

Short commercial flights are expected to be launched in time for their Concept of Operations for UAM opera-
the Summer Olympic Games in 2024. tions, detailing the technology, regulatory and
social recommendations needed to deploy
UAM in the U.S. and to integrate it into the
Airbus Steps Up national airspace system.
After successfully developing two eVTOL demonstrators,
CityAirbus and Vahana, Airbus has moved to the next stage of “We’re working to enable a future of aero-
its developmental efforts in the sector. The European conglom- space that is safe, sustainable and at scale,”
erate’s new generation of eVTOL - CityAirbus NextGen - is an said Brian Yutko, Boeing Vice President, and
all-electric, four-seat prototype with a fixed wing, a V-shaped Chief Engineer of Sustainability & Future
tail, and eight propellers. Based on a lift and cruise concept, Mobility. “Uncrewed operations will be fun-
it has an 80-km operational range and a cruise speed of 120 damental to realizing that vision, and we have
km/h. The company is partnering with Thales and Diehl for the to exceed the current safety standards for the
eVTOL’s Flight Control Computers, with MagicAll for its electric air transportation system,”
motors, and with Spirit AeroSystems on the prototype’s wings. In October last year, Wisk unveiled its
The company plans to have the aircraft ready for demonstration sixth-generation aircraft, which it claims
in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics. is the world’s first self-flying, all-electric,

Besides working on CityAirbus NextGen which was unveiled in four-passenger eVTOL air taxi. According to
September 2021, Airbus has also teamed up with other compa- the company, Generation 6 represents the
nies to develop UAM infrastructure and for air taxi operations. first-ever candidate for type certification by
The company has announced a partnership with Paris Airports, the FAA of an autonomous eVTOL. The eVTOL
the RATP group, the Paris Ile-de-France region, and the French features six front rotors, each with five blades
civil aviation authority (DAGC) for the development of UAM opera- that can tilt either horizontally or vertically as
tions in Paris. In March 2022, Airbus and The Helicopter Company well as six rear rotors that each consist of two
(THC) pledged to work together not only to expand helicopter blades and remain fixed in a vertical position.
activities in Saudi Arabia but also to introduce UAM operations in The aircraft has a cruising speed of 120 knots,
the country. The next month, the company and ITA Airways signed a range of 140 kilometers, and can fly at an
a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on UAM in Italy. altitude of 2,500–4,000 feet above the ground.
In May, the company announced that it was championing the Air After unveiling the Nexus hybrid-electric VTOL
Mobility Initiative in Germany, an UAM project that also involves aircraft in January 2019, Bell showcased a
the City of Ingolstadt, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Flugsicherung, full-scale mock-up of their second Nexus UAM
Diehl Aerospace, Droniq, Munich Airport, Red Cross, and Telekom. aircraft - Nexus 4EX - in January 2020. The
In yet another initiative, Airbus and Munich Airport International experimental Nexus 4EX has 4 ducted propel-
have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start marketing lers and is all electric. According to Bell, the
turnkey solutions to cities and regions interested in developing Nexus 4EX, which is capable of holding 4 pas-
advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystems globally. sengers with luggage as well as a pilot, has
a cruise speed of 150 mph (241 km/h) with a
Boeing for Autonomous Flight range of 60 miles (97 km). Customers will also
Boeing is backing Wisk Aero, a joint venture it formed in 2019 have the option of requesting hybrid-electric
power trains for the aircraft, thus increasing
with Kitty Hawk, a flying taxi company that has since closed the range to more than 150 miles.
operations. In September last year, the two companies unveiled

Infrastructure Development
Even as several companies compete to bring
their air taxis into the market, there is a con-
certed push to ensure that the infrastructure
needed to facilitate UAM operations is in
place. Regulatory bodies are also working
together to harmonize certification criteria
and integration plans.
In January this year, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) announced that it was
partnering with the Korea Office of Civil
Aviation (KOCA) on issues related to Advanced
Air Mobility (AAM) projects such as airwor-
thiness, licensing, and operations. Korea’s

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