Drones are already in use, and numerous pilot projects exploring their potential—especially for medical and agricultural applications—have taken place in various European regions and cities. Meanwhile, the deployment of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) is also underway. Although current experience demonstrates the economic and business potential of innovative air mobility (IAM), it lacks a holistic assessment of environmental and societal impacts and the provision of tools for policy and regulatory decision-making.

The full exploitation of IAM technologies can address current international challenges such as climate change, urgent societal needs arising from humanitarian crises (e.g., pandemics), and financial and energy crises stemming from recent geopolitical events. IAM can also enable operational efficiency for organisations and act as a driver for local development.

This solution provides a toolset that follows a data-driven approach, offering local authorities, air navigation providers, network planners, and U-space stakeholders an integrated framework for IAM assessment. The toolset consists of ten modules that quantify impacts such as noise, visual pollution, and air quality from an environmental perspective; citizen acceptance; operational safety (as perceived by citizens); and socio-economic topics such as affordability, accessibility, and economic development.

Overall, the toolset allows users to:
a) assess the impacts of IAM during the planning phase, and
b) monitor the impact of IAM after its introduction, enabling continuous improvements to maximise benefits while minimising negative effects.

The solution outputs—including acceptable drone density, drone types, perceived safety, overall citizen acceptance, acceptable noise and visual pollution levels, and noise disturbance thresholds—can inform IAM and U-space regulations regarding acceptable capacity levels and corresponding levels of service.

The solution contributes to SDO10 – enabling innovative air mobility (IAM) and drone operations. IAM airspace capacity levels are therefore linked to the impacts of IAM operations in place.

BENEFITS

• Data-driven capacity management based on sustainability and welfare criteria

• Advanced U-space service impact assessment criteria (environmental, socio-economic, safety)

• Contribution to the development of physical and digital IAM infrastructure