Special issue on urban air mobility: research on aircraft, infrastructure, operation, and public acceptance

Abstract

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as part of Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) is envisioned to be a new air transportation system for passengers and cargo in urban environments. It is enabled by new technologies in the fields of aircraft technology, electric propulsion, and air traffic management. A core idea is to integrate UAM into existing multimodal transport systems. The vision of UAM is to achieve safe, secure, and sustainable air transport in urban and suburban environments, complementing existing transportation systems. UAM is expected to benefit users and to also have a positive impact on the economy by creating new markets, employment opportunities for manufacturing and operation of UAM aircraft, and the construction of related ground infrastructure. However, there are also concerns about noise, safety and security, privacy, and environmental impacts. Therefore, the UAM system needs to be designed carefully to become safe, affordable, accessible, environmentally friendly, economically viable, and thus sustainable. Recognizing this need, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt, DLR) launched the comprehensive research initiative HorizonUAM, which brought together ten of its institutes, as well as international partners, such as NASA and Bauhaus Luftfahrt. From 2020 to 2023, the project explored the areas of UAM aircraft, related infrastructure, operation of UAM services, and public acceptance. With this Special Issue, we present selected insights and results that reflect the diversity, ambition, and depth of the HorizonUAM project. It comprises 20 peerreviewed papers.