What people think of air taxis: pros and cons as reported in a German survey

Kurzfassung

There are numerous development projects for passenger drones around the world, several companies have already flown prototypes of electrical vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), and the start of regular flight operations has been announced for the coming years. Noise concerns are among the most important factors influencing the social acceptance of urban air mobility among citizens and, therefore, represent a potential obstacle to the introduction of air taxis, at least in Europe. One of the potential use cases for air taxis is the performance of security or rescue missions. Here, air taxis or eVTOLs show some potential, as the use of quieter aircraft to carry out security or rescue missions that were previously flown by helicopters could significantly reduce noise pollution for the population, especially in urban areas. Another potential application could be the use of eVTOLs as airport shuttles, which is often supported by investments from major airlines. In the European context, however, this must be supported by public infrastructure such as airports and the corresponding availability of flight zones. In a nationally representative telephone survey on the acceptance of civilian drones in Germany, conducted at the end of 2022, attitudes towards air taxis were relatively balanced, with a slightly negative trend. Inferential statistical analyses showed that factors such as age, gender, active experience with drones, interest in modern technology, and interest in environmental protection are significantly associated with attitudes towards air taxis. Following previous findings on the relevance of noise annoyance for the acceptance of drones in general, the study asked for some noise-related information and found that subjective noise sensitivity and general noise annoyance were associated with the acceptance of air taxis. By analysing information from the responses to free-form questions, this paper highlights reasons why public attitudes towards passenger drones in Germany appear to be limited and what factors might influence the willingness to use air taxis once they have been introduced.