Photo: Airbus Helicopters Urban Air Mobility Program
Airbus is one of many companies that entered the urban air mobility (UAM) space in recent years. CEO of Airbus UAM Balkiz Sarihan provided a pre-Heli- Expo briefing called “CityAirbus NextGen: Building Advanced Air Mobility Services One Step at a Time.” She offered a holistic perspective on how Airbus is going to make UAM a reality. A leader from Turkey and Canada, Sarihan brought a calm and professional edge to presenting program facts. Listening to her proposition about UAM is like spreading butter on warm toast.
The subtitle of “One Step at a Time” reflects the immensity of the task. Yet Sarihan seems to have a handle on the myriad issues, from design and building, to testing and ecology, to human factors such as buy-in, and the necessity
for
creating vertiports. “We’re in helicopters... but integrated with technologies,” Sarihan said. The program is “100% funded by Airbus Group,” she added.
Sarihan discussed the 68 Mar/Apr 2023 tie between helicopters and UAM regarding
electrification and propulsion and their shared ecosystem. “We do this because we believe that the technology that we are building and maturing and testing is for the benefit of the group,” she said.
The guiding principles behind the program are: • •
Sustainable aviation. Accessible flight lab.
• Transparency and fairness. • A hands-on mentality.
Sarihan elaborated on these principles first, taking on sustainability. She highlighted sustainability practices regarding environmental noise, power and fuels, and human interaction in the ecosystem. She said the work includes more than creating a prototype of a vehicle, but also needs “a mature, safe, and optimized ecosystem” that includes: 1. Support and services. 2. Airspace management. 3. Flight operations. 4. Ground infrastructure. 5. Customer engagement.
Airbus is currently working on the third iteration of its vehicle while evaluating
where the UAM product fits into the market and the community at large. “We have to think about how these vehicles and this technology will be incorporated into cities and our communities,” she said, adding that regulations and public acceptance are keys. She reflected upon going from zero eVTOL vehicles in our skies directly to thousands, and why it isn’t feasible. She understands that public education and communication are essential to acceptance and said about the public, “We must have them with us to excite them, to entice them, and to have them access a service that is 100% trustable.”
Sarihan discussed early missions, such as
medical missions and ecotourism.
She wants to build a vertiport, fly the first missions, develop an understanding of the passenger/user experience, and get reactions from others. The model is currently being built in Bavaria, Germany. She said that at first, people should expect a scaled-down vertiport and a vehicle that will be used for testing, which will help inform future iterations of the technology. She shared that early versions will be piloted, not autonomous.
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