Bloomberg: Singapore’s Tiny Second Airport Eyes Future As A Flying Taxi Hub
July 04, 2022
Transportation and Services Principal, Sunny Xi, was quoted in a Bloomberg story on the future of aviation and Singapore’s Seletar Airport positioning itself as a hub for flying taxis.
“Singapore is, and continues to strive to be, the world leader in mobility, and this development is another brick in that wall,” said Sunny Xi, a principal at consultancy Oliver Wyman’s transportation and services practice. “This is more than simply solving traffic on roads. Singapore has all the right ingredients to test, learn and scale both the mobility adoption and the business to then export it across the world.”
The fact the aerial devices are electric isn’t going to put much of a dent in aviation’s huge carbon footprint, either.
About 80% of the industry’s carbon emissions come from flights longer than 1,500 kilometers, which is why flying taxis won’t be a solution in the near term, the International Air Transport Association’s Director General Willie Walsh said in May. The biggest lobby group for airlines is “conservative” about the impact the technology will have on the industry’s path to net zero, Walsh said.
Oliver Wyman’s Xi agrees. He sees all-electric propulsion restricted to short-haul aircraft applications for mainly commuter, or between nine to 19 seat, applications. “Without significant improvements in the specific energy density of batteries compared to kerosene, it’s unlikely that electric planes will threaten modern commercial aviation.”
Read the full article here.