URBAN AIR MOBILITY (UAM) SYMPOSIUM 2021

Urban population in India has grown from 217 million in 1991 to 517 million in 2020 and is expected to reach 700 million by 2050. This rapid growth of urbanization has posed major challenges on the already choked urban traffic. Additionally, due to inadequacies in ground transportation infrastructure in many densely populated cities around the world, especially in emerging markets like India, alternate modes of transport for better connectivity are of paramount need with the inherent conditions that they are widespread and affordable

In this context, short-haul air transport finds a place with two important segments: One that focuses on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) primarily in large metropolitan cities using electrified Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles, and the second that focuses more on inter-city commute by operationalizing underused/unused airports using fixed-wing aircraft. There are also wide spread applications available for drones including highway construction monitoring, flood situation assessment, border security, crop health monitoring and pesticide spraying, mass larvicide spraying to control mosquitoes and associated diseases, and in many conditions inhospitable for humans especially during natural calamities. Drones are also now being used for goods delivery within a city by ecommerce companies.

In June 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the Government of India (GOI), released the National Civil Aviation Policy in 2016 (NCAP 2016) including UDAN-RCS, where UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional airport development program with Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to enhance regional air connectivity across the country, through fiscal support and infrastructure development.

With the above developments in mind, SAEINDIA is organizing it's first Symposium on Urban Air Mobility(UAM) including UAV, Drones & UDAN-RCS Scheme of the Government of India. We have assembled a group of key stakeholders in the field of UAM and UDAN, from industry, academia, policymakers.

The Symposium will feature keynote addresses and panel discussions, from subject matter experts, both from India and abroad. This Symposium is expected to attract wide spread attendance from aerospace experts including members from Rotary Wing Society of India, Drone Federation of India and Directorate General of Civil Aviation.