12 June 2023: McKinsey recently published a study ‘Short-haul flying redefined: The promise of regional air mobility’ which highlights that advances in aerospace technology, new attitudes about travel and a growing ecosystem of established players and startups could drive a resurgence in regional air mobility.

Regional air mobility is defined as the transportation of passengers and goods by air over about 150 to 800km on 5 to 50 passenger aircraft (or the equivalent size for cargo), primarily using smaller regional airports. It brings together new aviation technologies and existing small airport infrastructure into a transportation model that is more equitable, more economical, and more environmentally friendly for air travel over short distances, compared to today’s status quo.

After the decline in regional point-to-point traffic from 2008 onwards, McKinsey predicts a new growth of regional air mobility thanks to the development and entry into service of new disruptive aircraft. The study estimates that the market will grow from $75 billion today to $115 billion in 2035 at global level, with the greatest value coming from the shift from road/ sea traffic to air and then from current hub and spoke traffic.

Regional air traffic will represent from 8 to 13 per cent of global air traffic in 2035, compared to 5 per cent today. Overall, McKinsey estimates a need for 18,000 regional aircraft in 2035 (36,000 in the best scenario).

The full study is available at the following link: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/our-insights/short-haul-flying-redefined-the-promise-of-regional-air-mobility?cid=soc-web [1]