Assessing the airport facilities in the context of UAM operations

UAM mobility is deemed as a paradigm shift in passenger transport mode for intra- and inter-urban transport. This concept is supported by the appearance of new types of aircraft with the capability of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and the use of electric propulsion and energy storage. Current VTOL vehicle prototypes vary substantially in configuration and design, resulting in different UAM missions and concepts of operations. Although still in the so-called innovation trigger phase, growing interest from large investors and existing (NASA) and emerging (Lilium) companies implies the expectation of some of these VTOL aircraft to end up being pilotless, autonomous aircraft designed for between one and five passengers on board. While most of the UAM passenger-related service will require dedicated VTOL ground infrastructure for takeoff and landing (often referred as vertiports), some of the operational concepts contemplate integrating these vehicles into existing airports. This refers particularly to the UAM mission which aims to connect the city center (or suburb) with the airport. However, this process is not straightforward, as it requires a thorough evaluation of different operational and safety aspects to allow the smooth operation of these new vehicles given their distinctive characteristics. Furthermore, to accommodate these types of vehicles and provide a satisfactory level of service to all stakeholders (i.e., airlines), airports will need to acquire adequate facilities and learn to manage these new operations alongside conventional aviation. This project aims to investigate the need for new airport facilities in the light of potential integration of VTOL vehicles. With their new autonomy features, some of the airside facilities need to be radically upgraded to allow safe integration into the current airport system. To do this, this analysis is divided into two parts. The first part is oriented to the description and analysis of the different models and configurations of VTOL aircraft that can be found nowadays together with the nature of the missions that can be carried out. The second part of the study introduces a background and an initial approach to the integration of UAM services in the airport environment to finish by analysing two hypothetical application scenarios to reality with their corresponding identification of the new and existing facilities necessary to accommodate these new operations concepts.Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i InfraestructuraObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenible