During a General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) delegation’s tour of Boeing’s Dreamliner facility in Charleston, GACA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Boeing in the field of sustainability and advanced air mobility. The agreement was signed by Captain Sulaiman Al-Muhaimidi, GACA’s Executive Vice President for Aviation Safety and Environmental Sustainability, and Mr. Asaad Al-Jomoai, President of Boeing Saudi Arabia.
“This partnership with Boeing reflects GACA’s commitment to creating safer, smarter skies through advanced air mobility innovation. The effort further cements Saudi Arabia at the forefront of the future of aviation,” said GACA’s Executive Vice President.
According to GACA AAM roadmap, AAM will be delivered in three phases.
“Phase 1: During the early development of AAM, key limitation factors are a lack of ground and digital infrastructure, the ongoing development of a regulatory framework, and pending certification for different elements of AAM. Flights consist of demonstrations in a controlled environment and tests.
Phase 2: Commercial operations become feasible thanks to the development of different enablers. The scale of operations and public awareness and acceptance increase. The main limitation is the short supply of the AAM fleet, driven by small-scale manufacturing capacity and competing orders from multiple countries and regions. Fares are relatively high, and routes are limited due to incipient vertical networks. Primary use cases include cargo, airport shuttles, and tourism.
Phase 3: As supply develops, prices decrease. Connectivity improves with the development of denser vertipad networks. AAM popularity grows and drives higher levels of embracement. Demand flourishes as prices become closer to those of ground transportation alternatives, thanks to operations automation and manufacturing scale”.
For more information
https://gaca.gov.sa/News/saudi-delegation-mou-boeing
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2616256/business-economy
https://gaca.gov.sa/-/media/Files/PDF/Reports/Air-Mobility-Reports/2024-01-22-Air-Mobility-Report-Vision-EN.pdf?as=0&hash=51765E821BC750CC373EAA4EB2A1A9F5
(Image: GACA)