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CASA believes the first advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft will be operational in Australia within five years, with drones to also continue to expand.
In its newly-released RPAS and AAM Strategic Regulatory Roadmap, the aviation safety regulator said it expects the first commercial AAM operations, including “air taxi” passenger transport in urban areas, to be up and running between 2027 and 2029.
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The AAM industry is pushing for air taxis in Australia, with firms such as Wisk looking to have them up and running by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“By 2030, most currently known use cases for remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) are expected to be mature with expansive access to lower-level airspace and supporting regulations in place,” the roadmap says.
“Technologies enabling extended visual line of sight (EVLOS) and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in shared airspace, across both urban and rural environments, will be commonplace.
“The commercial advanced air mobility (AAM) sector will continue to mature [between 2030-33]. It will expand to include multiple scheduled passenger transport applications supported by safe and efficient transport routes. The first fully autonomous aircraft may be introduced on a limited scale.”
Longer term, CASA expects higher numbers of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of “different designs, purposes, and capabilities” to operate in Australia’s airspace by the mid-2030s.
“Advancements in technology will also increase the diversity of aircraft. This will blur the lines between RPAS, AAM and traditional aircraft,” CASA said.
“Hybrid designs will emerge as operators see the commercial benefits these new technologies offer. As the AAM sector grows, we will see highly automated vehicles entering service on a small scale, gradually expanding over time.”
The roadmap, which looks at the government’s strategy for the integration of more drones and AAM aircraft into Australia’s airspace, has been welcomed by industry figures such as Clem Newton-Brown, CEO of Skyportz, who called it “really exciting news for Australia”.
“This policy confirmation by CASA provides a green light for the property development industry to start planning for this revolution in the way we move people and goods,” Newton-Brown said.
“The vertiport infrastructure is the missing piece of the puzzle for this industry. Without new vertiport landing sites in places people want to go, the aircraft will never fulfil their potential.”
