Impact of Airspace Restrictions on UAM Airport Shuttle Service Route Feasibility

Initial Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations are anticipated to include air-taxi services between airport terminals and city centers. UAM airport shuttle operations have the potential to improve the customer experience and provide airports with new revenue streams but risk interfering with current airport operations. In this paper, the authors develop a discrete, heuristics-based optimization framework to explore the impact of airspace constraints and the placement of vertiports in the airport terminal area on the feasibility of UAM shuttle operations. The framework is applied to the terminal areas of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Small-scale UAM operations were found to be feasible at all three airports with current terminal area procedures, particularly if UAM aircraft are classified as helicopters. Scaled-up operations were found to be most feasible at ATL due to the possibility of segregating UAM aircraft from commercial traffic, whereas scaled-up operations at LAX and DFW are expected to require the adoption of new technologies, procedures, and regulations.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 25p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01847990
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Jun 6 2022 4:22PM