TH Ingolstadt supports Air Mobility Initiative

To advance the development of electric air transport, leading companies, universities and research institutions as well as municipalities and organisations are joining forces to form the Air Mobility Initiative (AMI). Members of the Air Mobility Initiative include THI, Airbus, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Flugsicherung, Diehl Aerospace, Droniq, Munich Airport, the City of Ingolstadt and Telekom. The initiative, which is funded by the Free State of Bavaria and the Federal Republic of Germany, will set up a number of research projects. These joint projects are grouped around the areas of "Electric Aircraft", "Air Traffic Management" and "Vertiport", which is about infrastructure on the ground.

In a first step, the AMI partners will address the technological, infrastructural, legal and social prerequisites for future urban air transport. Subsequently, the knowledge gained will be implemented in a pilot project under real conditions with electrically powered vertical take-off aircraft.

THI researches user acceptance, customer experience and traffic behaviour

In the AMI AirShuttle project, for example, THI's contributions lie in a work package on user acceptance, customer experience and traffic behaviour, for which Prof. Dr. Andreas Riener is responsible. The THI focuses on the identification of framework conditions for a successful market launch of eVTOLs ("Air Taxis") in the international airport context. In the analysis and the usability evaluation, the last stage from/to the airport for the individual traveller is addressed in particular. Established methods from quantitative and qualitative research at different levels of reality (surveys, enactment, participation, VR simulation, real lab/studies) will be used.

"The aim of THI is to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that play a role with regard to user experience as well as acceptance and doubts about the use of eVTOLs among users and operators, in order to be able to derive recommendations for improving the user experience and integration capability on the one hand, and to be able to make recommendations for system design to dispel doubts, fears or generally negative attitudes in society on the other," explains Prof. Dr. Andreas Riener.

Work on the individual AMI projects has already begun in January 2022. The pilot project's test flights will be conducted in the region around Ingolstadt. The initiative is funded with a total of 17 million euros from the Free State and 24 million euros from the federal government. Together with the industry's own funds, this results in a total activity of 86 million euros over a period of three years.