EU regulator releases initial set of rules for UAM and air taxi operations %

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has released what it calls the world’s “first comprehensive” set of proposed regulations for next generation aerial urban mobility (UAM) aircraft like air taxis that will operate in city environments.

The EASA document is a wonk fantasy. Rather than offering broad strokes of how vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicles will spirit passengers around cities, the 295 page text piles on all the arcane details of operation that developers of those craft need to know in producing prototypes adaptable to future rules.  In other words, the EASA’s proposed set of regulations is not intended to give the general public a peek into how UAM services like air taxis will fit into peoples’ lives and movements. 

Read: Dronamics obtains first certification for EU-wide drone deliveries 

Instead, an agency press release noted, it is intended to guide the “(m)anufacturers in Europe (who) have signaled…