The Aviation Studies Institute has commissioned colleagues from the Lee Kuan Yee Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) to provide an overview of the challenges that lie ahead for the public acceptance and adoption of urban air mobility. The team at LKYCIC provided insights that they have gleaned from their earlier studies which investigated the prospect of increasing the public utilisation of autonomous ground vehicles.

The paper looks beyond technology to consider the human dimension. The paper’s two authors Dr Samuel Chng and Merna Alzurikat bring expertise in Psychology, Urban Science, Policy and Planning.

Whilst much of the industry’s push to date has been on aircraft certification and more recently integration into the airspace, ensuring customers are willing to use these services is perhaps less prominent, but no less important. Likewise, the need for third parties to be willing to accept them in their neighbourhoods and resolve challenges not limited to noise is also crucial for their viability.

The paper highlights several integrations challenges and makes several recommendations for policy makers and the industry alike.

This topic complements work conducted by the Aviation Studies Institute which has been regularly contributing to the CANSO and ICCAIA Working Groups on Advanced Air Mobility, which in turn help inform ICAO-level policies.