What does the global Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market look like today?
Today, there’s a lot of industry collaboration to create the required ecosystem for eVTOL and commuter aircraft once they’re in operation. While progress is being made, there’s still further to go in terms of building public acceptance, defining operational rules, and harmonising regulations.
For the UAM market, the next two years will be extremely exciting as we start to see the first eVTOL aircraft in commercial operation. From a geographic perspective, we expect to see the Middle East and APAC as leading markets, with the Americas and Europe following. We’re already working with eVTOL OEMs that are set to enter the market with the second wave of aircraft that satisfy highest safety requirements.
We are a strong believer in the RAM market, which in our view is often underestimated. Here, we see the first nine-passenger platforms entering into service towards the end of this decade. While there are some thin-haul use cases that are already possible with pure battery electric configurations, hybrid systems using fuel cells or turbogenerators will be crucial to unlock the full potential of this market.
At Berlin Airshow in June, we announced our collaboration with MD Aircraft, a German aircraft manufacturer with extensive experience, that is working on a nine-passenger commuter aircraft. Our electric propulsion unit (EPU) specifically designed for RAM will be ideally suited to power such platforms.