Urban Air Mobility: Insights into Potentials and Challenges

The forecasted increase in population density in urban areas threatens to overburden transport infrastructures and significantly increase road traffic congestion. Urban Air Mobility, an on-demand passenger air transport service, is a potentially disruptive transportation solution that aims to optimize travel routes, shorten travel times, and reduce road traffic congestion. While Urban Air Mobility offers enticing prospects for future air transportation, it also poses wide-ranging challenges. This paper summarizes the ongoing research and development efforts into a framework, highlighting the essential factors that demand further studies for the introduction and scalable operation of UAM. The paper also discusses key opportunities and challenges for the successful integration of UAM in airspace and its operation.