Air mobility leaders to convene in Dubai next week

Global leaders in advanced air mobility are heading to Dubai for the fifth edition of the Airtaxi World Congress, slated to take place at the Grand Hyatt Dubai Conference & Exhibition Center from October 7-10.

The next-generation clean air mobility event is expected to gather about 1,000 major players in the AAM sector such as airlines, airports, original equipment manufacturers, startups, investors and regulators. This year’s event participants include the US Federal Aviation Administration, JetSetgo, Rolls-Royce and Volocopter.

The ATWC 2024 will provide one-on-one meetings, exhibitions, live flight demonstrations and roundtable discussions for regulators. There will be a comprehensive summit program featuring renowned experts covering topics including “Airports of Tomorrow: Pioneering AAM Integration,” “Regional Air Mobility versus Urban Air Mobility” and “US, China, UK and Portugal Markets.”

“Not since US deregulation in the 1980s and the ushering in of innovative regional aircraft and airlines have we seen such excitement in air transportation,” said Airtaxi World Congress president Mike Howarth.

“In many ways, this is Back to the Future, with the same reasons and requirements for regional, point-to-point air travel, but this time, powered by vertical-lift technology, autonomy, AI and hybrid-electric propulsion. Observers have called this the third age of aviation, which is an excellent descriptor.”

As Dubai, the host city, has been under the limelight to become one of the main areas for the launch of electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, air taxis in the near future, the final day of the event will be focused on the Airtaxi Market Showcase, a new element of the ATWC that will demonstrate a selection of eVTOLs, electric short take-off and landing aircraft, or eSTOLs, drones and other next-generation air mobility at the Air Chateau Dubai Helipark.

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority recently certified Air Chateau to develop new vertiports and heliports to support regional air services in the United Arab Emirates.

“Since we’ve been running these events -- in San Francisco in 2023, and Istanbul in 2022 -- the AAM market has grown exponentially,” Howarth said.

“There are now around 1,000 models in various development globally, together with a host of fixed-wing regional air mobility aircraft.”

As Korea is gearing up to usher in the era of AAM with the public and private sectors working together to test eVTOLs, a number of Korean AAM pioneers are also attending the ATWC including Hyundai Motor Group’s US-based AAM company Supernal, Korean Air, Korea Airports Corporation and Weflo.

The Korea Herald is the official media partner of the ATWC 2024.