Page 33 - SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2024 - INSIGHT

stakeholders and public demonstra- Infrastructure development for view to non-firm orders and options
tions to showcase the safety and AAM is gaining significant traction placed.
capabilities of UAM vehicles. around the globe. In the Asia Pacific
(APAC) region, there have been AAM operations will unlikely
Q What is the biggest challenge continued investments and part- become a significant part of main-
that UAM needs to overcome nerships in AAM infrastructure by stream carriers’ operations in the
before it becomes a reality? Is various stakeholders. near to medium term. Until eVTOLs
technology maturing fast enough are able to carry a larger number of
to ensure safe operations within As early back in 2019, Skyports, passengers over a longer distance
the next two years? a vertiport operator, collaborated for short-haul regional operations,
with Volocopter in launching a they will be consigned to be used
Social acceptance is particularly vertiport prototype in Singapore. It only by a small segment of these
critical, as they will determine the has continued to make progress in carriers’ customer bases (i.e.,
ability of UAM to operate within the region including a collaboration most-premium passengers only).
populated areas, and also influence with AirAsia to study air taxi infra-
the size of the user base for such structure development in Malaysia. Q Activity related to AAM opera-
services. This is not to say that the Additionally, the Japanese verti- tions are in full swing in all major
other aspects of building out the port startup, Skyscape, recently regions. Is any region ahead of
ecosystem including vehicle certifi- announced plans to develop an the others? Where do you expect
cation, infrastructure build-up, and ‘Integrated Aviation Centre’, which operations to start first?
regulatory standards development will be among the first vertiport facil-
are not critical. All aspects of the ities in the country. In South Korea, All major regions have shown signif-
ecosystem need to be developed we see that Volatus Infrastructure icant progress in AAM operations.
for UAM to become a reality – but has been partnering up with local However, the initiation of operations
social acceptance will be key to firms in order to push ahead AAM is likely to occur first in regions that
influence investors’ and regulators’ infrastructure developments there. exhibit a combination of technolog-
view of the industry and determine ical maturity, robust government
the potential to move forward. However, more still has to be backing, sufficient infrastructure,
done. AAM infrastructure is not just and favorable public perception.
The challenge is not particularly due about vertiports. There needs to be Regions where operations are likely
to the lack of technology maturity. consideration over the “air infra- to begin soon, even on a limited
Multiple AAM vehicles are already structure” – i.e., the urban air traffic basis, include China, France, Italy,
in the type certification process, and management system, the rules and Korea, Japan, USA, Saudi Arabia,
we have EHang being granted both policies that govern AAM flights and the UAE.
the type certificate and Certificate of within urban areas etc.
Airworthiness. While regulators are Q It is expected that AAM flights
still developing their own standards Q Do you expect mainstream car- will commence with manned oper-
for UAM certification and operation, riers to extensively use eVTOLs ations. How soon do you expect
recent safety issues involving the to expand existing operations? Or unmanned operations to become
wider aviation industry will mean will the AAM sector be dominated the norm?
that scrutiny will remain high and by companies exclusively serving
OEMs will be subjected to the same the sector? Manned operations have been
rigorous testing. OEMs will also be taking the centerstage in the AAM
motivated to ensure a high level of While airlines have relatively industry. Unmanned operations
safety – given that any incidents defined and feasible use cases for require a much higher level of
that happen in these initial stages eVTOLs to be used as airport shut- technology capability and com-
will severely set back the industry. tles and regional air mobility, there plexity to develop, and remain a
are many other use cases being put secondary priority for most OEMs,
Q Many developers of eVTOL air- forward for AAM – including aerial whose primary near-term goal is
craft are making progress towards tourism, logistics, and even medical the certification of manned opera-
certification. Has infrastructure / organ transport which will be run tions of a new class of aircraft. It will
development for advanced air by other general aviation opera- likely be in the mid to late 2030s at
mobility operations kept pace, tors. This is the reason why airlines the earliest where we might even
in the Asia Pacific and other currently only make up ~30% of the see any large-scale development
regions? firm orders that are placed – this in passenger-carrying unmanned
share decreases if we expand the eVTOLs..

WWW.GBP.COM.SG SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2024 INSIGHT ∙ FEBRUARY 2024 33