Guidelines Prepared on Future Use of Air Taxis, Drones

Feedback sought on reference materials developed by CAAS and 23 regional peers

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan

A set of guidelines on the future use of air taxis and drones has been developed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and 23 regional counterparts, including China, India and Japan.

The reference materials on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft such as air taxis and unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, were released on April 2. CAAS is seeking industry feedback on the guidelines, which cover everything from the certification and validation of such eVTOL aircraft to the regulation of air taxis.

For example, regulations will be crucial to the integration of eVTOL aircraft into existing airspace systems, including possible new flight paths, altitude restrictions and communication protocols with air traffic controllers. In highly urbanised Singapore, CAAS' focus will be on how to integrate new users of airspace – such as air taxis – with "conventional users", CAAS director-general Han Kok Juan said at a media briefing at Changi Airport on April 2.

"Our focus... is to allow Singapore to be able to leverage technology safely", given the challenges of limited airspace in an urban environment, Mr Han said. He added: "We are a small country. We are also very highly urbanised, with a very congested airspace. That is the local context that we have to take into account when we assess any application on air taxi use."