Interview with Joyce Abou Moussa, Innovation Project Manager at Groupe ADP
Airport's operator, Groupe ADP (Aéroports de Paris) is partnering with ADW and will present on the first day of the conference the roadmap with which the Paris Region aims at enabling Advanced Urban Air Mobility (AAM) with medical, cargo and passenger transport by the 2024 Olympic Games.
Joyce Abou Moussa, Innovation Project Manager at Groupe ADP explains the road ahead.
Groupe ADP (Aéroports de Paris) has a unique position in Europe via its integrated network of airports. The three main Parisian airports are Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget in addition to a network of aviation airfields in the Paris region including the Paris city heliport. According to Joyce Abou Moussa, Groupe ADP's AAM Strategy, Business Development and Partnerships lead “airports are key mobility stakeholders in the advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystem. We do believe that the airport-city connection is projected as one of the first viable use cases for this industry.”
Key players
Groupe ADP positions itself as one of the key players and one of the first movers in the Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem in France and worldwide. In the EASA study on the societal acceptance of Urban Air Mobility in Europe published in May 2021, Paris Region has been identified as the most suitable region for AAM deployment.
Joyce:
Technical Sandbox at Pontoise
To prepare the grounds for operational scale-up, addressing technology, acceptability and safety challenges is key. This is the starting point of our roadmap. Groupe ADP has set one of its airfields, Pontoise Airfield, in the Paris Region as a sandbox: an experimental site to test and validate the AAM technologies, operations, infrastructure, and regulations.
Joyce:
To achieve an agnostic full-fledged testing campaign, adopting a multi-stakeholders' approach and collaborating with manufacturers and industrial partners is crucial.
Joyce:
The Paris Region testing currently covers three main aspects. First, the drones and eVTOLs' noise and vibration impact. A first testing campaign occurred on the third week of March with Volocopter to model and assess the noise emissions of an eVTOL at different cruising speeds and hovering distances to meet acceptability criteria.
The second aspect is the airspace integration of these machines into conventional air traffic, complying with all safety conditions.
The third component is about testing the ground infrastructure and operations.
Foundation Stone
Groupe ADP is proud of the partnership with ADW. According to Joyce, ADW is one of the most successful knowledge sharing platforms around the AAM industry.
Joyce will participate in a panel discussion on Tuesday March 29 during ADW. What she hopes to share with the rest of the participants and visitors is the increasing importance of AAM today in transporting people, medical and commercial resources not only in urban areas but also in remote and less accessible areas. “I want to share with the world what we have been able to achieve in the Paris Region and the road ahead. We will be discussing the challenges related to infrastructure development, regulations and acceptability, and how we are addressing them to take zero-emission aviation to the next level."
Groupe ADP and ADW Hybrid
During ADW Hybrid, 29-31 March 2022 in Amsterdam, Groupe ADP will share the AAM roadmap in the Paris region. For more information and the programme visit:
