AAM to drive growth of regional airports
The launch of advanced air mobility (AAM) services across the UK could spur the reopening of mothballed smaller, regional airports, according to Fiona Smith, group head of aerodrome strategy at…
The launch of advanced air mobility (AAM) services across the UK could spur the reopening of mothballed smaller, regional airports, according to Fiona Smith, group head of aerodrome strategy at AGS Airports.
Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s President’s Summit 2023: Future of Flight in London, Smith said greenfield and no-longer-licensed airfields could find new uses as vertiports.
She said: “There is a network of smaller airports as well as those which were previously licenced up to very recently. There’s an opportunity there for these airports to come back into the fold.”
Vertiports and regional airports
Vertiports will play a critical role in enabling AAM operations in this breakthrough technology, offering sustainable, convenient air connections and transforming how people move to, through, and between cities.
A report by Swanson Aviation Consultancy for UK Research and Innovation noted that early electric aircraft operators were likely to operate out of smaller airports and vertiports.
The report said that as the density of future electric aircraft operators increases, more routes will be opened as they seek new markets.
Smith, who represents Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, added: “We have a very significant role to play in this new market.
“We believe that it will make sense at least in the early stages that the sector will not all change at once. Some things will have to remain constant. And we think aerodromes will be one of those constants in the early stages.
“The most important role that we have to play in this market is really just to ensure that we support its success.”
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