Orlando, Florida, is racing to be one of the first cities to establish advanced air mobility (AAM) services in the 2027 timeframe, local officials and business aviation representatives said today at the NBAA regional forum at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL). And business aviation is a key enabler for AAM infrastructure, as well as a “technology incubator” for new electric aircraft propulsion systems, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said during the forum’s opening session.

Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Airport Authority, noted that the airport has a “future-ready master plan” that includes provisions for eVTOL air service. He added that state and local officials and other stakeholders held a tabletop exercise for AAM last week with a focus on Orlando International Airport (KMCO). “We tackled things such as where vertiports can be located.”

“Our goal is to have policies and land-use regulations in place to allow the AAM industry to flourish,” said Jacques Coulon, mobility innovation manager for the city of Orlando. “No one will put a bunch of eVTOLs in front of City Hall and say, ‘Have at it.’ It takes planning, so these tabletop exercises get into the weeds. For example, what does the process of applying for a vertiport look like? We need to be ready—AAM is coming faster than many may expect.”

According to Thibault, “AAM is a regional solution and has a big use case in Orlando. People flying into Orlando International want to get into downtown, the Port Canaveral cruise port, and theme parks, and AAM can make that happen faster.”