Urban Aerial Mobility for airport shuttle service

Abstract

Airport shuttle service is regarded as one of the most promising use cases for the early deployment of Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This study introduces an integrated modeling framework for UAM-based airport shuttles. The framework covers strategic decisions, including site selection, route planning, fleet size design, and station capacity design, as well as operational considerations such as demand estimation, service level determination, and scheduling. This framework aims to provide UAM stakeholders with an optimization and management solution that incorporates the above integrated decisions. Through a case study at Beijing Capital International Airport, several notable findings emerge: (1) UAM demonstrates feasibility in airport shuttles, offering a minimum 28.4% reduction in travel time while maintaining costs comparable to alternative modes. (2) The system exhibits robustness and high service quality, effectively accommodating 94.8% of reserved orders and 90.7% of ad-hoc orders. (3) Larger-capacity eVTOLs (e.g., 5–6 passengers) are well-suited to expedite UAM deployment for airport shuttle services. (4) Emphasizing the importance of vehicle performance, a high cruise speed correlates with revenue growth approximating linear progression, highlighting its significance for the advancement of UAM. These findings enhance our understanding of UAM’s potential in airport shuttle services and offer valuable insights for UAM stakeholders.