From air taxis to medical supplies - here are some benefits of 'advanced air mobility'

Imagine getting picked up from the centre of a busy city by air taxi and whisked high above congested roads to your destination in the suburbs.

Sounds unlikely? It could become a reality more quickly than you’d think.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis are just one example of advanced air mobility (AAM), a development that’s set to be transformative for aviation, offering societal benefits, improved safety and broader economic opportunities.

To support this, the World Economic Forum has launched AVIATE: Advanced Air Mobility to support the integration of AAM technologies, and has published a white paper in collaboration with Kearney.

The Forum’s goal is to foster collaboration and to support the development and integration of AAM technologies in a way that is safe, sustainable and beneficial to society as a whole.

“Advanced air mobility is spearheading innovative new technology in the aviation industry,” says the white paper. “Application opportunities for AAM are manifold across passenger and non-passenger (goods and services) transport clusters.”

The innovations are set to reshape how we think about air travel, logistics and urban transport. There is a wide range of applications, including passenger transport and goods delivery, that could be integrated into existing infrastructure.

One of the most exciting aspects is the potential for automation. And while there’s scope for AAM to push the boundaries towards full autonomy, such a shift requires careful consideration around human involvement. The Forum white paper proposes a spectrum of human involvement in operations, ranging from "in-the-loop" to "over-the-loop," with increasing levels of remote control and automation.

AAM has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives, including transportation, healthcare logistics and emergency response. Here are three of the main use cases:

Using aircraft like drones and eVTOLs can enable more rapid patient transportation, faster delivery of medical supplies and organs and improve access to healthcare in remote or underserved regions.

Features like being able to take off and land vertically and being powered by electric motors means they can provide support to emergency responders during natural disasters.

AAM technologies offer great solutions for remote and hard-to-reach locations. eVTOL aircraft and other AAM vehicles can connect isolated areas, providing crucial services, like delivering medicine. This means they can foster better logistics networks, improve supply chains and serve traditionally underserved regions, opening up new possibilities for businesses and communities.

In urban environments, AAM presents solutions for passenger transport. By introducing air taxi services, AAM has the potential to alleviate traffic congestion on city streets and highways. It can provide efficient airport transfers, reducing travel times and enhancing the overall passenger experience. Furthermore, AAM can improve connectivity between city centres and suburbs, offering commuters a faster and potentially more environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional ground-based transportation.

Despite all the potential use cases, the Forum’s white paper identifies some hurdles that need to be overcome, including social acceptance, operational feasibility and financial viability. Regulatory frameworks also need to be developed and significant infrastructure investments will be needed, the report says.

As the technology matures and regulatory sandboxes prove successful, there is likely to be rapid uptake and more widespread implementation of AAM.

So it might not be too long until you’re zipping along in that air taxi after all.