Taking Off in New Directions: How Airports Can Plan for Advanced Air Mobility

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is a rapidly growing aviation sector, with airports, fixed-base operators (FBOs) and airlines weighing the risks and benefits of this potentially lucrative capability.

AAM can mean many things and be used for a wide variety of functions, from air taxis and medical transfers to military training and small package deliveries. Therefore, when preparing airport infrastructure to accommodate AAM, airports must identify solutions that are as adaptable and modular as possible.

Universal challenges, individual solutions

How operators plan to implement the necessary infrastructure to support AAM largely depends on the specific characteristics of each airport. These characteristics include electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft to be operated at the airport and their purpose, available space and the volume of air traffic.

However, there are several challenges when it comes to preparing airport infrastructure for AAM, including electrifying airport infrastructure, fire prevention and firefighting, regulatory uncertainty and the amount of space available. An airport’s response to these challenges depends on a range of factors, including its appetite for risk, management structure, throughput and location.

Electrifying airport infrastructure is a substantial undertaking due to a rise in electric ground service equipment, electric buses and electric rental fleets. When factoring in electric aircraft, an airport’s electricity demand increases significantly, and many are already at their maximum power usage capacity. Achieving this goal ultimately depends on the availability of power from local utility companies and whether on-site generation is possible.

An underlying issue with electrifying airport infrastructure is fire prevention and firefighting. Battery-powered fires burn differently than other fires. They can self-ignite and re-ignite for hours or days after an initial fire is extinguished. Traditional Aircraft Rescue Firefighting equipment is not sufficient for these fires necessitating safeguards that the industry has not yet addressed. It also underscores the need for close collaboration with local fire departments.

In addition, regulations surrounding AAM are changing rapidly in the United States and worldwide. Airports want to commission designs and amend plans, so they are ready to break ground once funding becomes available. With parameters constantly changing, sometimes quite significantly, moving forward with plans for new infrastructure can carry significant risk. On the other hand, waiting until regulations are finalized carries the risk of losing business to other, more emboldened competitors. Each airport must assess its appetite for risk and balance its priorities in this uncertain environment.

The amount of space available at an airport will also affect planning for AAM. Many U.S. airports are highly space constrained and may struggle to prioritize dedicated space to new landing, parking and charging areas for eVTOL aircraft. Furthermore, it’s not just ground space that airports need to consider. For example, in New York City, one of the most congested airspaces in the world, there is already an established helicopter market. Replacing helicopter traffic with eVTOL traffic wouldn’t necessarily pose a problem, but scaling up the use of eVTOLs for additional purposes could. With potentially hundreds of AAM flights per day – even if they use a different classification of airspace – significant adjustment to how airspace is used and controlled will be required.

Planning for change

For the majority of commercial airports, the adoption of AAM is led by the airlines, FBOs and other private companies that want to use their facilities and invest in them. Some airlines have partnerships with eVTOL manufacturers so the last leg of a passenger’s journey can be a transfer via eVTOL air taxi. Even if the direction of AAM development isn’t entirely driven by the airport itself, commercial airports must be prepared to implement necessary infrastructure and open to collaboration. General aviation airports have more autonomy to decide how far they want to go with AAM and in what direction. They can choose whether they want to be leaders in the field and have more opportunities to pursue alternative funding sources, if required.

To help airports prepare for the relative unknown, we are currently developing modular AAM infrastructure designs that can be implemented in one form and adapted at a later stage. For example, an airport could set up three eVTOL charging stations but install the electrical infrastructure to supply five. So, as operations increase, two additional charging stations could be easily added to meet increased demand. This approach enables early progress while mitigating risk.

Ultimately, airports must determine how they can best respond to changing AAM challenges and opportunities, while working closely with stakeholders to deliver a solution minimizing risk and pushing innovation forward.