Air Taxi Readiness Index 2022

The Air Taxi Readiness index is a tool to facilitate discussion around the level of preparedness for the upcoming generation of passenger-carrying short or VTOL vehicles in 60 selected territories. It is a composite index that combines over 47 individual, existing metrics from a range of sources into a single score. The metrics are arranged across five pillars: consumer acceptance; infrastructure; policy & legislation; technology & innovation; and business opportunity. Each territory receives a score for each pillar, and these are aggregated into totals per territory, enabling the resulting ranking.

The breathless excitement that has surrounded several vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in recent years is beginning to cool. Stratospheric growth predictions and fizzy product announcements are being tempered by more sober funding rounds, regulatory clarifications, and even the inevitable test accidents. Whilst still a market of great promise, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is necessarily moving into a new phase, as the initial hype cycle of startup and investor activity winds down and the hard work of certification, delivery, and driving the many new concepts and models to full commercialization must happen. Some OEMs are more advanced than others along this commercialization runway, and inevitably the coming years will see a winnowing of the many young companies that have sprung up. The same can be said for burgeoning vertiport and AAM operator companies, although expect them to enter the limelight once several OEM models are fully certified.