F. Helmchen, A. Hupfer, S.F. Armanini

With increasing power and energy storage capabilities, electrified aircraft for low-capacity transportation are moving to the focus of attention in aviation. Electrification is expected to curb the effect of aviation on the global climate, but also simplify aircraft operations. Moreover, commuter air services might reduce travel times by offering low-capacity connections and improving the accessibility of remote areas. This work derives top-level aircraft requirements for upcoming electrified commuter aircraft designs, focusing on assessing range requirements, implications on take-off field lengths, and cost comparisons. To do so, it analyses historic air traffic control data for current commuter and light regional aircraft and establishes a demand model to access future low-capacity connections within Europe. We show that commuter air services have developed into a niche, whereas light regional aircraft have acquired the role traditionally linked to commuter services. For Europe, we identified significant travel time benefits for range requirements of 500-700 km. Assuming the already existing airport infrastructure, total travel times could be improved by introducing bypass connections and shorter first/last mile transportation to the airfields. We identified the modes of transportation that commuter services would compete with for the analysed connections. Commuter air services achieved a significant reduction of first and last mile transportation costs, which constitute a significant fraction of the total trip costs. However, the costs of the actual flight segment were considerably higher than for the reference modes of transportation. In total, the effect of higher costs for the commuter flight segment outweighed the cost reductions.

Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2022, Dresden

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn, 2022

Conference Paper

englisch

21,0 x 29,7 cm, 14 Seiten

urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022120211052587312122

10.25967/570206

Regional Air Transportation, Electrified Commuter, Electric Aircraft Propulsion

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Helmchen, F.; Hupfer, A.; Armanini, S.F (2022): External Requirements for Electrified Commuter Aircraft. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.. (Text). https://doi.org/10.25967/570206. urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022120211052587312122.

02.12.2022