and Amsterdam Drone Week Today, a panel of Urban Air Mobility experts discussed the opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region and the drivers that will bring UAM to the region.
Diana Cooper is super nullis a Hyundai company developing eVTOL for the commuter market. Cooper said there are major factors behind the growth of urban mobility in the APAC region, including politics, the economy and the environment.
“The traditional aviation industry has been dominated by the US and Europe for the past decade. The APAC region has new political incentives to join this new mode of aviation and not be left behind.” says Cooper. South Korea, China, Australia, Japan, India and Indonesia are all among the early adopters of this technology in the region, and some are also home to major technology providers in the field. “This new aeronautical technology is relatively accessible,” says Cooper. “There is a feeling in the region that no country wants to be left out of this next phase….We have a lot of tech enthusiasts. [in the region] The first passengers of this type of aviation, those who are ready to become the first passengers. ”
Augustine Tai is Head of Business Development for APAC. EVE Air Mobility, founded by Embraer. Tai said the region is experiencing rapid economic growth. This is largely done by people moving from rural communities to urban areas where there are more opportunities. These population movements are straining both housing and infrastructure development. “We can’t keep building houses without roads, and we can’t keep building roads without houses,” he said, adding that urban airhis mobility will provide alternative modes of transportation that can supplement traditional means. point out to provide
“Installing a birchport is much cheaper than building a system of roads, bridges and tunnels.
The geography and environment of some APAC regions also contributes to their willingness to be first adopters of UAM technology. “UAM is about connectivity. We operate in Indonesia, a country of over 17,000 islands. This is a good solution to connect these islands. There is no other really effective way ” he says Mr. Cooper.
Who is APAC’s urban air mobility for? Premium and low-cost solutions
Munish Khurana, panel moderator and senior manager of ATM/UTM at EUROCONTROL, asked the panelists what to expect from the first use case. Tai said both are now viable in the region.
“We see both commuter use cases and on-demand use cases,” he says. In Bangalore, the service can be used primarily as an airport shuttle, solving a significant problem for commuters, he explains. Due to traffic jams, the drive from the airport to the city takes about 3 hours, but with UAM the journey he cuts to 15 minutes. “It makes a big difference for people,” he says. “It means I can travel to another city for business in one day instead of staying.”
In other countries, the first use case may be toward on-demand luxury travel. “They want to be able to drive him to the golf course in 15 minutes instead of just taking him two hours to do one round.”
“Both are powerful use cases.”
Cooper said Supernal is focused on commuting use. She “targets mobility for the masses, not the use case for the wealthy,” she says. “The four-seat and pilot design shows that.” Cooper also answers her question that has plagued many stakeholders in the UAM space. How can we make urban air mobility transport affordable?
“for us [Supernal] Innovation is what makes it more affordable. Innovation in manufacturing facilities, not aircraft.these are [vehicles] It’s made in a completely different way. A lot of innovation is happening behind the scenes – and that’s what helps make this an affordable mode of transportation. ”
Hyundai-owned Supernal has a unique opportunity to leverage the experience and supply chain expertise of a major automaker focused on economies of scale. “Boeing can build about 300 planes a year,” he points out Cooper. “Car companies can make 10 million.”
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