FIA 2022 Preview: Aerial Mobility and Sustainable Aviation Tech

Aerial mobility will take a large part in Farnborough International Airshow 2022, as companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Vertical Aerospace, Lilium, and more will be in attendance to showcase their technology. The airshow, which occurs July 18-22 at the Farnborough airport in the UK, will be a landmark opportunity after a three year COVID induced hiatus for companies, consumers, and aviation enthusiasts to come together in person and recap the developments and accomplishments of previous years, as well as chart the course for the coming era.

One of FIA 2022’s themes is sustainability in aviation – with an increased focus on the electrification of aviation, sustainable aviation fuels, and momentum behind enabling technologies that can be applied to existing aircraft today for applications ultimately in the AAM space.

Boeing’s FIA 2022 listing states the company will have exhibits focusing on “renewable energy, hydrogen fuels and all-electric, self-flying air taxis” (formerly Wisk Aero’s Cora). Other companies will similarly be showcasing their technologies that further sustainable aviation; aerial mobility players such as Vertical Aerospace, a home-bred AAM company based in the UK, as well as Lilium will highlight their all-electric aircraft as the perfect configuration for the future.

Other priorities for FIA 2022 include “future flight” with reference toward the new and novel configurations of AAM aircraft and dedicated showcase locations and forums for companies that are enabling the next generation of technology. This theme families well with that of Innovation and Sustainability, as aerial mobility technology largely builds off multiple of FIA’s focus areas for this year.

Why it’s important: A growing aerial mobility presence is occurring at trade shows and leading industry airshows worldwide, reflecting the inroads that many of the technologies purpose-built for aerial mobility and electric aviation have for the entire aviation industry. Further, as many shows transition their focus to future aviation technology, it’ll become readily apparent in short order that technologies developed for aerial mobility have applicability far beyond the eVTOL space. Airshows with a large amount of intermingling between these types of companies will serve as opportunities for these sorts of organic connections to occur.