Sustainable Urban Air Transportation System

Dear Colleagues,

Urban air transportation is a rapidly increasing field of creative new vehicles, and potential business startups, consultancies, scientists, and industry are excited to explore and develop solutions in terms of products and services.

New technologies, especially automation of flight and electrification of driver, are providing new capabilities for the introduction of flight vehicles in urban mobility.

Societal acceptance and environmental sustainability are key requirements to be fulfilled for successful introduction of this new kind of mobility.

In this context, flight vehicles for passenger and cargo transport are considered, which may be operated with or without pilots on board. The main characteristic of urban air mobility is that it provides air transport in urbanised areas like mega cities and metropolitan areas.

Among the uncountable technical and operational challenges, this Special Issue will address, in particular, technical and operational solutions which are especially considered within the scope of societal acceptance and environmental compatibility.

For this, investigations and developments which clearly show societal agreement will be presented. Here, empirical and psychological investigations are of interest, which show societal positions. Technologies or operational procedures which minimise the local air quality impact of those transport concepts are also of interest. In addition, the minimisation of noise of such vehicles and their operation is an important aspect. Very often forgotten—but as relevant as noise—is the downwash of lifting systems, which can cause discomfort for inhabitants.

We encourage researchers, practitioners, and scientists to submit original research articles, case studies, reviews, critical perspectives, and viewpoint articles in the field of urban air transportation systems and all related topics.

Prof. Dr. Volker Gollnick
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• urban air transportation system
• air systems
• air vehicle concepts
• air vehicle operations