Singapore Airshow 2022 might lack the vibes of big order announcements (which are unlikely to happen), but as far as eVTOLs are concerned, the numbers of orders and commitments have been racking up. Day 2 saw commitments for a combined 190 electric Urban Air Mobility vehicles from airlines and operators in the Asia Pacific region, which could be the biggest UAM market in 2050. Day 2 Singapore Airshow: eVTOL market set to boom in Southeast Asia. AirAsia Aviation Group Limited, the new name of the airline business of Capital A, announced a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with lessor Avolon for “a minimum of 100” Vertical Aerospace VX4s. The airline group of Tony Fernandes is joining the emerging eVTOL market and sees opportunities to develop it as a new sustainable mobility platform in Southeast Asia. “We are now much more than just an airline with over twenty products and services on our super app leveraging off each other including flights, hotels, food, retail, delivery, ride-hailing, and more”, Fernandes says in a media statement. “I am truly excited about this partnership between Avolon and AirAsia and the potential for zero-emissions ultra-short-haul air travel in Southeast Asia.” The agreement includes the joint initiative of Avolon and AirAsia to “pursue local certification, research potential market opportunities and infrastructure requirements for UAM. AirAsia will also leverage its successful travel and lifestyle mobile app, the AirAsia Super App, to help support and build an eVTOL ride-sharing platform with Avolon.” For Avolon, the MoU with AirAsia means that it has now orders and commitments for ninety percent of the 500 VX4s that it ordered with Vertical in June 2021, including 190 options. Other customers are Brazilian airline GOL and Japan Airlines, which will take up 250 and 100 aircraft respectively. Vertical also has commitments from American Airlines, Bristow, Iberojet, Virgin Atlantic, and lessor Marubeni. Vertical’s pre-order book includes 1.350 VX-4s. Artist impression of the Eve in HeliSpirit colors over Australia. (Eve) Eve expands customer base in Australia AirAsia is the first customer of the Vertical in Southeast Asia, where its competitor Eve has been building market share since last year. Eve UAM, which was acquired by Zanite last December, announced an agreement with Singapore-based Ascent in June 2021 to develop the UAM market for tourism, air taxi services, and cargo flights in Singapore, Thailand, and The Philippines. Eve added ninety eVTOLs to its pre-order book today after signing agreements with three Australia-based companies, AviAir, HeliSpirit, and Microflite. The first two companies, which are part of the HM Consolidated Group, plan to take delivery of forty Eves from 2026. HeliSpirit will offer them for tourist flights in Western Australia and the Greater Perth region in combination with its existing fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. In December, Eve partnered with Nautilus Aviation in Northern Australia, who placed an order for ten vehicles. Slide from the Rolls-Royce/Roland Berger market forecast for UAMs in the APAC region. (Rolls-Royce/Roland Berger) Microflite is active around Melbourne and has ordered forty Eves. In a strategy that has been tried elsewhere, Eve and Mircoflite plan to use helicopters as a proof of concept to validate parameters for future eVTOL operations and procedures. Eve has been doing this in Brazil in the past few months together with the regulatory agency ANAC. The company announced last week that it is seeking type certification for the Eve with ANAC as a normal category aircraft. The latest commitments bring Eve’s order book to over 1.800. Analysts of JP Morgan even estimate the backlog to be over 2.000 vehicles worth $6.0 billion, assuming a price of $3.0 million per aircraft. JP Morgan reiterates its positive view on Embraer and Eve UAM. Yet, Eve is unlikely to satisfy all customers in 2026 when deliveries are scheduled, as it consistently says in each media statement. The delivery plan shared in December shows only 73 for 2026, ramping up to some 480 in 2028 and over 1.100 in 2030. APAC region set to become biggest UAM market in the world Although the UAM market is still questioned by various analysts and companies, a new study by Rolls-Royce and Roland Berger consultancy predict a market of $36.9 billion by 2050 within the APAC region. This consists of 25 countries in the Asia Pacific region, but also includes Russia, and Iran. Urban geographies like Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo are likely to lead the way when introducing UAMs as a means for quicker transportation. With 82.500 eVTOLs, the APAC region could account for more than half of the world’s UAM fleet in 2050 and over forty percent of global revenues. In China, there could be flying some 39.000 eVTOLs by then, in Japan 16.400, in South Korea 7.000, and in India 6.800. Frontrunners could fly UAMs before 2030, with Japan expected to have some 630 active vehicles ahead of South Korea with 360. The Rolls-Royce/Roland Berger report identifies a few key points that the AAM industry needs to tackle. (Rolls-Royce/Roland Berger) The report highlights that in order to be successful, governments, the industry, and regulators must work together to develop the regulations, infrastructure, and societal changes that come with the introduction of the Advanced Air Mobility system. Rolls-Royce is a partner of Vertical Aerospace on the propulsion system of the VX-4. One airline planning ahead is Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA). It has formed a partnership with US-company Joby Aviation and carmaker Toyota to introduce electric air taxis to cities and communities across Japan, it announced on February 14. As an example, ANA presented the plan to offer a direct service between Osaka City and Kansai Airport. By car, this will take about an hour, whereas an eVTOL will fly the journey in fifteen minutes. ANA, Joby, and Toyota will look at the infrastructure, pilot training, flight operations, integration with ground transportation, and public acceptance. The public needs the have the confidence that flying on an eVTOL is safe and worth the price, while the new rotor planes will definitely create opposition with others who only see them as nasty and noisy.
