Air Taxi Readiness Index 2023
The Air Taxi Readiness Index (ATRI), now in its third iteration, is a tool to help measure the level of preparedness for the upcoming generation of passenger- and cargo-carrying Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) vehicles in 60 selected territories.
Chris Brown, head of our Strategy team, assesses the preparedness of these selected territories in the race for vertical take-off and landing air mobility.
Asia Pacific: game changer for global SAF Industry?
To date, most of the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) activity has taken place in Europe and the United States, but there are a few new kids on the SAF block.
Since the beginning of 2023, as local flight traffic has started to rebound after COVID-19 restrictions, Asia Pacific has seen a surge in SAF announcements. Chris Brown, head of our Strategy team, explores Asia Pacific's potential impact on the global SAF industry.
Read more in our article Is Asia Pacific a game changer for the global SAF Industry?
Who pays for aviation’s decarbonisation?
Aviation continues to find itself under increasing pressure over its environmental impact – a trend that will only continue for the foreseeable future. Chris Brown, head of our Strategy team, explores a key question for the sector: who should pay for aviation's decarbonisation?
Read more in our article Who pays for aviation's decarbonisation?
Integrating air mobility into wider infrastructure
As the world’s transport infrastructure groans under the twin pressures of chronic underinvestment and rising demand, cautious (and sometimes less cautious) optimism around advanced air mobility (AAM) continues to build.
Governments, investors, and OEMs are racing to turn futuristic visions into reality, promising a new era of revolutionised inter and intra-city travel and the creation of a multi billion dollar market in the process.
Read more in our article Integrating air mobility into wider infrastructure
Decarbonisation: Challenges and opportunities for aviation
How can aviation achieve the net zero targets?
The commercial aviation sector now has net zero targets for 2050. As aviation is both a hard-to-abate sector, and one that is also forecast for long-term growth, this is a tough ask.
To reach this target will likely require multiple gains from new technologies, policy incentives and behavioral change. It also creates several disruptive implications (and commercial opportunities) across the value chain, from aircraft manufacturers, regulators and operators to air traffic control, ground handlers and airports.
Read more in our article Decarbonisation: Challenges and opportunities for aviation
Decarbonising aviation
The decarbonisation of aviation is getting a lot of attention – but are efforts proportionate and in the right initiatives, or does the sector only risk attracting more accusations of greenwashing?
In this video, Chris Brown, Head of Strategy at KPMG, in conversation with Eduardo Mariz, Senior Analyst from Ishka Insights, paints the bigger picture in which SAF and other initiatives sit. We consider low-hanging fruit that often get overlooked, what realistic ramp-up of SAF looks like, the ability to decarbonise particular routes faster than many think, and how important offsetting will remain in 2050.
Advanced Air Mobility
An interview with Avinor
We enjoy working at the forefront of sector change – Advanced Air Mobility is coming, with multiple implications from regional infrastructure spend through to the focus within the aerospace supply chain. As part of our recent work with Northern Ireland’s aerospace supply chain, we interviewed KPMG client Avinor on how they see Advanced Air Mobility impacting Norway.
Highways and skyways
Building the next generation of air traffic control
As a new chapter in aviation begins, with air taxis and drone deliveries emerging, next generation air traffic control will require powerful new software.
Many litres of ink have been spilled discussing the nascent revolution in aviation. Barely a day goes by without fresh news of air taxis, unmanned vehicles, or new propulsion systems, and our own Aviation 2030 series has delineated in detail the implications of technology and consumer-led disruption in the sector.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Ready for lift off?
With net zero by 2050 now an established objective for aviation worldwide, the sector faces a huge challenge to decarbonize.
At the 41st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in October 2022, states adopted a collective long-term aspirational goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
AI flight scheduling
Can low-cost carriers squeeze more flights into their schedules?
Flight schedules are probably airlines’ most critical factor towards commercial success and for decades flight scheduling analysts have been tasked with the critical but challenging role of making sure they are profitable.
Simple but sophisticated solutions exist; carriers must overcome resistance to change that prevents them from finding and implementing these solutions.
Air Taxi Readiness Index 2022
Assessing 60 territories in the race for Advanced Air Mobility
The Air Taxi Readiness Index (ATRI) is a tool to facilitate discussion on the level of preparedness for the upcoming generation of passenger-carrying Short or Vertical Take-off and Landing (S/VTOL) vehicles in 60 selected territories. It is a composite index that combines over 47 individual, existing metrics from a range of sources into a single score. The metrics are arranged across five pillars: consumer acceptance; infrastructure; policy & legislation; technology & innovation; business opportunity. Each territory receives a score for each pillar, and these are aggregated into totals for that territory, enabling the resulting ranking.
Read our article Air Taxi Readiness Index 2022
Decarbonising ground operations
A long-haul journey
The decarbonisation demands on aviation are increasingly clear, with global net zero targets cascading through all industries, however hard to achieve. Thus far, the scrutiny spotlight has fallen primarily on airlines, as the sector’s primary emissions contributors, but the scale of the challenge will necessitate an industry-wide response over the projected net zero timeframe.
Here we set out the many opportunities we see for proactive ground handling agents (GHAs) to contribute to overall decarbonisation efforts and thereby future-proof themselves in a climate of ever-climbing environmental aspirations.
The Advanced Air Mobility revolution
Within this decade, we will see passenger AAM offer quieter and perhaps safer alternatives to helicopter and general aviation, and onward airport shuttle, writes Chris Brown.
When meaningful automation of pilot and airspace is possible, there will be a significant cost advantage, making the passenger AAM market preferable to less flexible and more expensive infrastructure investment in road and rail.
Read more in our article The Advanced Air Mobility revolution
The future of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Despite aviation’s bounce back from the pandemic still being slower than hoped, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) revolution shows no sign of losing momentum, with dozens of deals announced already in 2022, spanning governments, producers, and airlines around the globe, writes Chris Brown.
Air Taxi Readiness Index (2021)
The global VTOL market is expected to blossom in coming decades, as congested cities look for new ways to cut journey times and commuters and tourists embrace the promise of piloted and then automated air taxi flight. Morgan Stanley has estimated that the market could be worth US$1 trillion by 2040. The sector has seen a gold rush of startups and investors, breathless media reportage and futuristic demos. Many operators are expecting to commercialise their first propositions within the next three years.
On the other hand, as of 2021, the level of investor interest risks creating a bubble and subsequent crash in financial interest. Morgan Stanley’s US$1 trillion estimate, for example, is downgraded from their original total addressable market estimate of US$1.5 trillion published back in 2018.
Ground handling beyond COVID-19
The pandemic’s impact on the aviation industry has been seismic – but not terminal. With turnaround promises expected to exceed pre-COVID levels by mid-decade, the ground handling industry cannot afford to return to pre-pandemic norms. Right now, with airports well decongested, is the time to get ahead of trends that can shape the coming decade. Christopher Brown, our Head of Strategy, outlines how airlines and airports should start planning now.
COVID-19 may have pushed the Fourth Industrial Revolution out of the headlines, but it has not stopped it. Ground handling can expect to see significant disruption in the coming decade from technologies such as: AI, Big data, IoT, EV and AV, Synthetic and hydrogen fuels and VTOL.
The ground handling ecosystem will need to evolve rapidly in response to these technologies and others. Players looking to thrive in the post-COVID normal need to assess now both the threats and opportunities presented for their long-term strategy.
Disruption beyond COVID-19
Pandemics and economic downturns expose the volatility of the aviation sector. Understandably, the impact of COVID-19, including travel restrictions, has dominated short-term commentary.
We place COVID-19 in longer-term context and also evaluate the potential implications of air taxi ports and revolutionary plane design. We do this through the lens of six key player types:
- OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and their supply chain
- Lessors
- Operators
- MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul (organizations))
- Airports
- ANSPs (air navigation)
Implications of disruption for aviation
Major disruption is promised by a range of powerful new technologies and public pressure. Players that turn these trends to their advantage have the opportunity to reshape the industry. In Aviation 2030, we survey the landscape of the aviation industry, looking forward to the next decade and beyond.
What are the trends likely to impact the key players of the aviation sector? In this report, we outline three key disruptive forces that the sector must grapple with.
Get in touch
Christopher Brown
Partner, Head of Strategy
KPMG in Ireland
Mr. Jono Anderson
Principal, Strategy & Innovation
KPMG in the U.S.
Kieran O'Brien
Partner
KPMG in Ireland
