iscover
Autonomous air mobility (AAM) firm Wisk has signed an agreement with Airservices to explore the integration of air taxis into Australia’s airspace.
The memorandum of understanding will see Wisk, a subsidiary of Boeing, and Airservices collaborate and share expertise on AAM, with an estimated 1 million air taxi flights per year expected by 2043. Wisk is aiming to have air taxis in Brisbane by the 2032 Olympic Games.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
“Airservices will share its air navigation technical engineering and air traffic management expertise to support design, development, and validation of air taxi operations concepts in Australia,” said Airservices interim CEO Rob Sharp.
“The mutual benefit of this knowledge-sharing arrangement is it will help both organisations better understand industry needs and challenges and collaborate on strategies to ensure the safe and sustainable use of Australian airspace.
“This non-exclusive MOU is an example of Airservices’ commitment to working with industry to develop solutions that will enable emerging technologies to transform connectivity over short distances for a range of applications, including travel and emergency response.”
According to Wisk, the MOU “establishes a framework for:
- Evaluating initiatives that will incorporate autonomous air mobility networks into Australia,
- Exploring how advanced air mobility, and in particular uncrewed, remotely supervised aircraft can be integrated into the Australian national airspace,
- Providing a forum for discussion on challenges and opportunities for development by identifying potential projects, and
- Collaborating and knowledge-sharing activities to improve practices related to autonomous air mobility networks.”
Catherine MacGowan, Wisk’s VP of APAC and air operations, said activities are likely to include workshops and simulations on integrating AAM with Airservices systems.
“Australia has a history of aviation innovation and a vision for the future that includes advanced air mobility,” she said.
“We’re grateful to share that vision with Airservices, and to contribute to an air traffic system that meets the needs of AAM services so we can bring safe, efficient air travel to communities in this region.”
Speaking at the inaugural 2024 Australian Aviation Summit in August, new Airservices interim CEO Rob Sharp had signalled a focus on innovation at the ATC provider, saying the sector is “at a really critical time for the future of aviation” and pointing to air traffic management as “the third leg of the stool” alongside airlines and airports.
“The way we think about airspace is evolving as we get more and more demands from organisations wanting to use airspace. We need to adapt for the future in a way that’s safe but also sustainable and balances the needs for all users,” he said.
Sharp pointed to a trial of user-preferred routing on 38 scheduled routes, as well as the Flight Information Management System (FIMS) to manage drone traffic; digital aerodrome services, which will launch next year at Canberra Airport and be integrated into Western Sydney International Airport when it opens in 2026; and the OneSKY-CMATS program to unify civil and military air traffic management across Australia, as being major innovation initiatives at Airservices.
