Advanced Air Mobility can improve accessibility, create new eco opportunities in India: WEF report

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) solutions hold the potential to decongest roads, improve accessibility and create new economic opportunities in India, and integrating them through dynamic corridors can facilitate seamless coexistence with traditional airspace operations, a report said on Thursday.

World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with the civil aviation ministry has prepared the report titled 'Skyways to the Future: Operational Concepts for Advanced Air Mobility in India'.

To develop a robust ecosystem for AAM, the report has suggested establishing urban and rural vertiports, integrating AAM into the country's multimodal transport system and addressing key challenges such as noise mitigation, energy demands and community acceptance.

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) and short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft are fixed-wing planes that can take off and land on runways much shorter than those needed by conventional aircraft are among the AAM solutions.

"They offer on-demand passenger and cargo transport within urban and regional areas. Through such vehicles, AAM holds the potential to decongest roads, improve accessibility and create new economic opportunities," the report said.

Further, it said the country's requirements align closely with AAM's capabilities and solutions such as air taxis for urban areas, air ambulances for medical transport and connections to rural regions, can address these requirements effectively.

Also, a new framework for airspace design and management must be developed to accommodate the dynamic nature of new operations and vehicles. A tactical and strategic deconfliction service is essential since AAM is expected to expand air mobility into a vast, interconnected, dynamic system, the report added.

According to the report, AAM can provide solutions to densely populated and rapidly urbanising areas in India, such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi, where traffic congestion is causing severe economic losses.

"Bengaluru alone lost almost Rs 200 billion in 2023 due to congestion, hampering productivity and worsening pollution. While traditional infrastructure development can only partially address these issues, AAM could capitalize on airspace for medium and short-distance travel," it noted.

In terms of pricing strategy, one of the suggestions is to include value gap funding to support rural connectivity, similar to the current UDAN scheme for air travel.

"This allows the service to penetrate deeper into rural areas, supplementing existing transport with reduced fares or government-subsidised services. These subsidies can encourage the adoption of ASHA vehicles while ensuring profitability for operators," the report said.

ASHA refers to Advanced and Short-haul Air Mobility to All.

While noting that India is the third largest domestic aerial market globally, civil aviation secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said the value chain of AAM offers India the chance to take a leading position in manufacturing, operations, supply chains and training expertise.

"Given India's culturally diverse geography, the seamless integration of AAM into the Indian market will help develop a model for aspiring nations," he said in the foreword to the report.

India is one of the world's fastest-growing civil aviation markets.