Urban Air Mobility: Trends and Economic Perspective in Europe and Italy

Urban Air Mobility: Trends and Economic Perspective in Europe and Italy

Gabriele LECIS, Leonardo CORBO, Francesca DE CRESCENZIO, Millene GOMES ARAUJO

Abstract. This paper provides an overview of the emerging trends and business models in the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector, with a particular focus on the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) segment [5] in the European and Italian contexts. The work presents a multidimensional analysis aimed at identifying the main demographic, technological, industrial and regulatory trends. After that, it examines the current Italian scenario, the main recognizable business models, and offers some considerations on UAM’s ability to create, capture and distribute value.

Keywords
Urban Air Mobility, Advanced Air Mobility, Business Models, Sustainable Mobility

Published online 7/20/2026, 5 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Gabriele LECIS, Leonardo CORBO, Francesca DE CRESCENZIO, Millene GOMES ARAUJO, Urban Air Mobility: Trends and Economic Perspective in Europe and Italy, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 69, pp 1554-1558, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904251-272

The article was published as article 272 of the book CEAS – AIDAA Conference 2025

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

References
[1] AGOURIDAS V., BIERMANN F., CZAYA A., RICHTER D., STEMMLER J., STĘCHŁY J., WITKOWSKA KONIECZNY A., KUMAR R., PATATOUKA E. (2021). Urban Air Mobility and Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning – Practitioner Briefing. UIC2 – UAM Initiative Cities Community, EU’s Smart Cities Marketplace.
[2] ALAVERDYAN, D., KUČERA, F., & HORÁK, M. (2018). Implementation of the smart city concept in the EU: importance of cluster initiatives and best practice cases. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.37335/ijek.v6i1.67
[3] BAUR, S. (2022). Cargo drones: A potential gamechanger in the logistics industry, Roland Berger.
[4] BAUR, S., SCHICKRAM, S., HOMULENKO, A., MARTINEZ, N., & DYSKIN, A. (2018). Urban air mobility: The rise of a new mode of transportation. Roland Berger Focus.
[5] COHEN, A. P., SHAHEEN, S. A., & FARRAR, E. M. (2021). Urban air mobility: History, ecosystem, market potential, and challenges. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 22(9), 6074-6087. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2021.3082767
[6] EASA, N. (2021). Study on the societal acceptance of urban air mobility in Europe.
[7] GUERRA, C., MUZZOLON, E., & SIMONI, C. (2024). Guida alla discussione: 28 giugno 2024. Centro Nazionale per la Mobilità Sostenibile MOST.
[8] HADER, M., BAUR, S., KOPERA, S., SCHÖNBERG, T., & HASENBERG, J. P. (2020). Urban air mobility, USD 90 billion of potential: how to capture a share of the passenger drone market. Roland Berger.
[9] HAMILTON, B. A. (2018). Urban air mobility (UAM) market study: Final Report. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Available online: https://ntrs. nasa. gov/citations/20190001472 (accessed on 2 June 2020).
[10] MORGAN STANLEY RESEARCH. (2021). eVTOL/Urban Air Mobility TAM Update: A Slow Take-Off, But Sky’s the Limit. Morgan Stanley.
[11] PONS-PRATS, J., ŽIVOJINOVIĆ, T., & KULJANIN, J. (2022). On the understanding of the current status of urban air mobility development and its future prospects: Commuting in a flying vehicle as a new paradigm. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 166, 102868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2022.102868
[12] PWC STRATEGY&. (n.d.). Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Italian market study: Recommendations for a national ecosystem. PwC.
[13] PWC STRATEGY&. (2021). The path towards a mobility in the third dimension: How to create a National ecosystem for Advanced Air Mobility. PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Services Srl.
[14] RAGHUNATHA, A., LINDKVIST, E., THOLLANDER, P., HANSSON, E., & JONSSON, G. (2023). Critical assessment of emissions, costs, and time for last-mile goods delivery by drones versus trucks. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 11814. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38922-z
[15] SHAHEEN, S. A., COHEN, A. P., BROADER, J., DAVIS, R., BROWN, L., NEELAKANTAN, R., & GOPALAKRISHNA, D. (2020). Mobility on demand planning and implementation: current practices, innovations, and emerging mobility futures (No. FHWA-JPO-20-792). United States. Department of Transportation. Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office.
[16] STRAUBINGER, A., MICHELMANN, J., & BIEHLE, T. (2021). Business model options for passenger urban air mobility. CEAS Aeronautical Journal, 12(2), 361-380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-021-00514-w
[17] ZIPLINE. (n.d.) The Essential Guide to Implementing Drone Delivery in Healthcare. FlyZipline. Available at: https://www.flyzipline.com/solutions/healthcare/healthcare-guide.
[18] Information on https://www.aboutamazon.com/search?q=drone+delivery
[19] Information on https://www.leonardo.com/en/focus-detail/-/detail/advanced-air-mobility