With rapid urbanisation and the projection of close to two-thirds of the world’s population living in cities by 2050, congestion and productivity loss — both on the ground and in the air — are huge challenges. For India this is exacerbated.
The country will see the highest increase in urban population. By 2050, India will add more people to its cities than the number currently residing in them. And this is already being witnessed in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, which have grown rapidly.
Unfortunately, the expansion of these cities has not been met with a concurrent expansion of transport infrastructure. The result: extensive traffic delays and productivity loss (both time and money). Congestion is reaching a point of contagion.
This issue is being exploited by firms leveraging vertical takeoff and landing technology (VTOL). The advent of VTOL is likely to redefine aviation as we know it.
VTOL technology enables aircraft to take off and land like a helicopter while cruising like airplanes. This enables access to otherwise constrained areas of the city besides saving time and money.
Overall, the business case for VTOL aircraft is predicated on saving time by bypassing airports. The fact that one of the biggest challenges facing general aviation is the lack of airport capacity only furthers this business case. In the case of India, there are very few secondary airports, which cements this further. VTOL is hoping to fill this gap. And the technology has the potential to disrupt an entire market via its extension to larger jets (though that may be years away).
The added advantage of VTOL machines is that they can also engage in conventional takeoffs and landings (CTOL). In fact, CTOL operations help extend the range as the power required to get off the ground and back on-to it is much lower. What this effectively does is open up the aircraft to hundreds of existing airfields thereby providing an extremely flexible transportation solution.
17/06/19 CNBC TV18
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The country will see the highest increase in urban population. By 2050, India will add more people to its cities than the number currently residing in them. And this is already being witnessed in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, which have grown rapidly.
Unfortunately, the expansion of these cities has not been met with a concurrent expansion of transport infrastructure. The result: extensive traffic delays and productivity loss (both time and money). Congestion is reaching a point of contagion.
This issue is being exploited by firms leveraging vertical takeoff and landing technology (VTOL). The advent of VTOL is likely to redefine aviation as we know it.
VTOL technology enables aircraft to take off and land like a helicopter while cruising like airplanes. This enables access to otherwise constrained areas of the city besides saving time and money.
Overall, the business case for VTOL aircraft is predicated on saving time by bypassing airports. The fact that one of the biggest challenges facing general aviation is the lack of airport capacity only furthers this business case. In the case of India, there are very few secondary airports, which cements this further. VTOL is hoping to fill this gap. And the technology has the potential to disrupt an entire market via its extension to larger jets (though that may be years away).
The added advantage of VTOL machines is that they can also engage in conventional takeoffs and landings (CTOL). In fact, CTOL operations help extend the range as the power required to get off the ground and back on-to it is much lower. What this effectively does is open up the aircraft to hundreds of existing airfields thereby providing an extremely flexible transportation solution.
17/06/19 CNBC TV18
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