Advanced air mobility is a term that refers to new ways of moving people, goods and services by air. Advanced air mobility services fall into 2 categories:
- urban air mobility (carrying people or goods by air within cities, such as by “air taxi” or drone), and
- regional air mobility (carrying people and goods to rural and remote communities)
Services in these categories are being developed and tested in cities around the world. New technologies support these services, including electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and various drone systems.
In the future, advanced air mobility could become an important part of our transportation system. Eventually, it’s likely that some drones and passenger aircraft will even fly without pilots.
An industry on the rise
There’s growing interest in launching advanced air mobility operations in Canada. The stakeholders interested in this field include:
- industry
- other federal government entities
- provincial and municipal governments
- local transportation authorities
- academics
Collaborating with industry and international colleagues
Transport Canada is working to better understand the opportunities and challenges related to advanced air mobility in Canada by:
- working with stakeholders to prioritize work on advanced air mobility
- developing policies and regulations to prepare for new aviation technologies and sectors, including changes to regulations to support drones flying beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS)
- working with the International Civil Aviation Organization to make sure that Canada’s work to support advanced air mobility aligns with the work of other countries
- creating the Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification with the National Aviation Authorities (NAA)
Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification
Across much of the world, the future of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft is set to be certified in a unified and streamlined way following a landmark Roadmap established between national aviation authorities from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification aims to ensure safety, foster collaboration, promote technological innovation, and simplify the certification and validation process for new aircraft types across international boundaries.
Currently, traditional aircraft are type certified in the country of design using internationally harmonized airworthiness certification standards. However, with new AAM aircraft types, there are differences in certification standards emerging across the world. The roadmap acknowledges these differences and provides a framework to converge and harmonize these standards to simplify validation and ease entry of AAM aircraft into multiple markets.
This Roadmap will allow us to share data, research and safety information while also collaborating and sharing our expertise and marks a significant milestone in the evolution of bilateral partnerships to meet the challenges of emerging aviation technology. By working together, we can ensure that the introduction of AAM aircraft is both safe and efficient, paving the way for the future of urban mobility.
Get a copy of the report
To get a copy of the full report “Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification”, email AdvancedAirMobility-MobiliteAerienneAvancee@tc.gc.ca.
Learn more
As we continue our work in this area, we want to ensure that stakeholders interested in advanced air mobility have the information they need. Find out more about:
- aircraft and aeronautical product design, airworthiness, maintenance, manufacturing and certification
- certification for air operators
- drone registration, drone pilot certification, and other topics concerning flying drones safely and legally
If you have questions concerning advanced air mobility that are not covered in the pages above, please email: AdvancedAirMobility-MobiliteAerienneAvancee@tc.gc.ca