6. EA Maven's Co-founder Chairs India's Inaugural AAM event - March 2023

Advanced & Short Haul Air Mobility for All (ASHA), was held on the 27th and 28th of March 2023.

The inaugural Advanced Air Mobility conference in India, entitled Advanced & Short Haul Air Mobility for All (ASHA), was held on the 27th and 28th of March 2023.

The event, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and BLADE India aimed to introduce Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to the Indian market and bring together industry leaders to garner support. Key sponsors included Haunch Investments and Eve Air Mobility SkyScape Japan (DroNext) GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland Campaign.

Darrell Swanson, co-founder of EA Maven, chaired the event, which covered a wide range of topics from AAM aircraft manufacturers to UTM systems, skilling and training, financing, and infrastructure.

The Honourable Jyotiraditya M Scindia Minister of Civil Aviation for India, provided the keynote address on day two of the event. He specifically noted that ASHA in Hindi translated to 'hope' and that he encouraged all to embrace the acronym ASHA for India. He noted that the domestic market was growing significantly and had outpaced pre-COVID levels of growth with 144 million domestic travellers this year. He also cited a study by McKinsey, which indicated that close to 31% to 49% of Indians would like to travel by Advanced Air Mobility for short services to save time. This translates to a potential market of 650 million people, which is two times the total population of the United States and 1.3 times the population of combined Europe. To cater to this demand, the Minister stressed the need for infrastructure development, including Vertiports, short take-off and landing facilities, and associated energy systems. He also confirmed that the government needed to be in discussions with local governments to ensure that Vertiports were a fundamental part of the infrastructure.
The Minister emphasized that civil aviation is going to become the "bulwark of transportation in India," with the CAGR for Rail only being 5.7% whereas the CAGR for Air transport was 10.3%. He also highlighted the changing relationship between the industry and government, stating that the government's role was to act as a facilitator, partner, and equal stakeholder on a round table and not as a regulator.

We were also witness to the signing of MOUs between BETA TECHNOLOGIES, Jaunt Air Mobility, Eve Air Mobility and Skyports Infrastructure.

Jarek Zych Co-founder prepared EA Maven's initial findings on the opportunity within the domestic market which Darrell presented. It should be noted that the numbers presented only represent the opportunities between existing airports excluding intra and inter city routes. Although there is a significant opportunity for AAM operations in India, the potential for growth in the aerospace supply chain could be even greater. India has a thriving aerospace sector, a well-educated workforce, and a strong eagerness to succeed, which positions it well to become the global hub for AAM aircraft production. Since there is a pressing need to expand the production of AAM aircraft rapidly, India presents a unique opportunity to do so at scale.

Speakers and panellists we would like to give special acknowledgement included Adam Goldstein of Archer, the Secretary of Civil Aviation, Rajiv Bansal, Simon Briceno and Sanjay Gattani, Ph.D. Jaunt Air Mobility, Patrick Buckles, BETA TECHNOLOGIES, Augustine Tai Eve Air Mobility, Ashish Kumar GMR Group, Clint Harper, C.M. Mammen Tharakan Edmonton Int'l Airport, Amit Dutta, Simon Masters, Mihir Baxi, Asa Quesenberry, Ankit Dass, Salil Gupte, Rob Weaver, Corvin Huber, Ajit Mate Boeing, Arun Mannath. We would like to acknowledge contributions by Kirsten Bartok Touw, Michael J. Dyment and Sergio Cecutta for the Finance session but we were unable to play them due to a lack of time. Their video addresses will be made available to attendees otherwise copies can be provided upon request.

The conference was recorded and is available on YouTube via the following links:

ASHA DAY 1 – 27 March 2023 | 1000 hrs onwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T90GyN3KNNw

ASHA DAY 2 – 28 March 2023 | 1000 hrs onwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RUPRXsq6EQ