Future of Urban Air Mobility: Altitude Angel Joins European Partners

Jan 21 2021

Posted by Altitude Angel Announcement

passenger drone taxi in flight through city

AMU-LED aims to demonstrate the safe integration of all types of drone operations in urban environments to realise increasingly sustainable, smart cities.
The project will combine various exercises, including passenger transport in air taxis, the transportation and delivery of goods, police surveillance and support for emergency services.
2022 will see some of the largest demonstrations ever made, in three European countries: Spain, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
The project involves 17 companies and institutions from Europe and the United States.

Madrid, SPAIN; Air taxis, cargo delivery drones or unmanned systems for emergencies is an ever-approaching reality. Urban air mobility (UAM) will help us create more sustainable and smarter cities.

This new reality being on the horizon, has led to AMU-LED which is an H2020 project of the European Commission whose main purpose is to demonstrate the safe integration of different types of drone operations in our city´s skies.

It is an ambitious initiative, which will be built up over two years, with the ultimate goal of showcasing one of the largest demonstration of mobility services with air vehicles in urban environments by 2022. Several venues have been chosen in three different countries: Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Cranfield in the United Kingdom, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

In total, the project involves Altitude Angel and 16 other entities from Europe and the United States. Coordinated by everis, the consortium is made up of a group of very prominent agents within the sector: Airbus, AirHub, Altitude Angel, ANRA Technologies, Boeing Research & Technology-Europe, FADA-CATEC, Cranfield University, EHang, ENAIRE, Gemeente Amsterdam, INECO, ITG, Jeppesen, NLR, Space53 and Tecnalia.

More than 100 flight hours in urban areas

The exercises planned within AMU-LED include more than 100 flight hours combining different unmanned aerial systems and considering various scenarios, use cases and applications. These will consist of air taxi operations, cargo transport, delivery of goods and medical equipment, inspection of infrastructures, police surveillance, and emergency services support.

Through real tests and simulations, the project will explore and demonstrate how to decongest roads, improve transportation of people and goods, reduce travel times, increase flexibility, cut pollution, and reduce traffic accidents.

Thanks to the data obtained from the different tests, AMU-LED will be able to provide invaluable information to regulatory authorities such as the EASA. Ultimately the goal is to help develop and establish laws and regulations in the urban air mobility field.

A commitment to the evolution of air traffic management

AMU-LED is an H2020 project of the European Commission framed in the SESAR program (Single European Sky ATM Research). SESAR aims to ensure air traffic management modernisation in Europe, where urban air mobility (UAM) is a key element. It requires creating new concepts and regulations to design, structure, and industrialise a sustainable and interoperable system within current air traffic.

The comprehensive and multi-disciplinary team of professionals at AMU-LED includes experts in air traffic solutions, simulation and drone operations, research technology centres, legislators and experts in tests and demonstrators.