An intriguing report issued this week from German airline group Lufthansa poses the question: Are air taxis ready for prime time? Given the company’s semi-detached perspective on a new transportation sector that stands to complement, and to some degree supplant, conventional air transportation, its assessment is refreshingly candid and analytical. It cannot be accused of being a vector for the intoxicating hype engulfing this sector.
In “A Data-driven Report on the State of Air Taxis in 2021,” analysts from the Lufthansa Innovation Hub and Lufthansa Technik look at the potential for passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft through multiple lenses. They consider media coverage, academic research, investment patterns, and patent filings, and highlight peaks and potential troughs.
For instance, the report shows that venture capital bets in the sector spiked in 2020 with $1.1 billion in disclosed investments for 13 deals at an average of $85.8 million per transaction. This compares with 2019 when the 17 deals logged attracted an average of just $6.6 million (down from $16.9 million in 2018).
|