AiRMOUR presents an approach that takes on one of the most critical and challenging early real-life applications of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in Emergency Medical Services (EMS). AiRMOUR fills in the gaps and advances the understanding of needed near-future actions by urban communities, operators, regulators, academia, and businesses AiRMOUR is a research and innovation project supporting the development of urban air mobility, via emergency medical services, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program.

The AiRMOUR project engages 13 following partner organizations:

AiRMOUR Outcomes

The AiRMOUR research and innovation project has conducted wide range of activities and delivered dozens of deliverables. These include, but are not limited to foresight analysis, UAM EMS functional requirements, public acceptance analyses, environmental analyses, simulations, real-life live validations, several online and on-site masterclass courses, as well as GIS tool and complete Guidebook for UAM integration.

In addition to these activities and deliverables this document highlights the large amount of new data, the new knowledge and the new state-of-the-art or more specifically a push to the state-of-the-art which has been generated by the project. On top of all of these, the most notable lessons learned by each work package during this research and innovation project are also shared in this document.

Several kinds of data, new knowledge and push to the state-of-the-art has been generated by different work packages through research, simulations, validations, workshops and stakeholder and citizen engagement. These all are described in detail in this document. These project results have been actively distributed to the various stakeholders and public through online and masterclass courses as well as through the active project dissemination, communication, and exploitation activities which are also described.

This document, the public final report, does not go extremely deep into the content and findings presented in individual project deliverables or reports. For a reader looking for maximum level of detail, it is best either to go through D6.4 Guidebook for UAM integration, which provides a relatively concise summary and roadmap of the key deliverables – or directly drill down into individual deliverables of interest themselves. All of the AiRMOUR public deliverables are available on the AiRMOUR web site airmour.eu/deliverables. Also the guidebook D6.4 is available there in 7 different languages, namely Dutch, English, Finnish, French,
German, Norwegian, and Swedish.

Read the whole Final Report here.

Flying Forward 2020, AiRMOUR, and AURORA are Research and Innovation projects on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) funded by the European Commission. Their 3-year journey will come to an end soon. Collectively, they represent 34 organisations from Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. 

Three years of work and many relevant results, tools and lessons haven now been condensed into ten joint recommendations. Of course, these do not claim nor aim to be complete: they serve to start discussions and as a call to action for the entire UAM community – regulators, industry and authorities alike. They also aim to support future endeavours in the drone and UAM field. For a deeper understanding of the basis for these recommendations, we recommend you watch the videos, use the tools and read the reports on airmour.eu, ff2020.eu and aurora-uam.eu.

Recommendations for local and regional authorities

  • 1.) Engage in early and broad cooperation on UAM issues in urban areas: already during the spatial planning stages and before the construction phase. Take UAM needs into account in the spatial planning process, including the needs of emergency medical services. Start a dialogue with UAM operators and medical sector stakeholders about their needs.
  • 2.) The impact of Urban Air Mobility is still unclear and highly dependent on regulations and operational design. Sustainable Mobility Indicators (SMI’s) are a tool to monitor the impact of UAM. City planners should use these SMI’s to investigate which parameters of the UAM system most heavily influence the performance and perception in their municipality or region. 
  • 3.) City planners and use case developers should increase awareness, knowledge and preparedness for UAM. A balance is needed between operational and societal perspectives. Real-life tests and demonstrations of UAM concepts are highly effective to help people – citizens and city officials alike – to understand and engage with UAM services. 
  • 4.) Create and maintain a pre-defined UAM landing site network as part of the openly accessible digital twin or city’s 3D models. 
  • 5.) Develop standardised drone service level agreements, including clear roles and responsibilities, to aid cities and regions to arrange high-quality public procurements for UAM services. Service level agreements help stimulate innovation and an open market.

Recommendations for EASA

  • 6.) Expand the current regulatory frameworks and enlist the support of standardization entities to support autonomous flight. Move past the current complex step-by-step approach requiring remote pilots. Autonomous flight is a key enabler for Innovative Air Services.
  • 7.) Take lessons from projects and initiatives into account when defining a regulatory framework for an experimental category of unmanned aircraft.  Stimulate innovation by allowing testing of autonomous flight-capable unmanned aircraft in realistic, urban environments during the development phase, without requiring the safety levels of commercial aviation. 
  • 8.) Accelerate the implementation of digital connectivity to aircraft. Require all aircraft operating below 150m above ground level to be electronically conspicuous (visible) with the only possible exceptions being security classed operations and operations at pre-designated locations (such as RC model airfields or parachute fields). Up-to-date information on manned and unmanned aircraft position and flight intent is essential to scaling up UAM services. 

Recommendations for UAM service providers and manufacturers

  • 9.) Mobility service providers in air and on ground should facilitate integration of vertical components (such as landing sites and their availability, aspects related to drone routing, mission management systems…) into existing conventional, surface-based smart mobility, first responders, and urgent logistics services by building system-agnostic interfaces based on open standards. Together with existing information management standards for ground and air, it will stimulate automation and thus integrate current and future surface and air services. 
  • 10.) Obtain proof of airworthiness in order to reassure customers, stimulate sales and develop real business in cities. High-volume UAM services in urban environments are likely to scale up only with SAIL IV or higher. Engage with EASA for the design verification or type certification of the complete unmanned aircraft system to remove the lack of sufficient airworthiness of UAS as an obstacle for UAM growth. 

As urbanization intensifies and population ageing continues, while workforce cannot not grow with the same pace, cities worldwide are grappling with increased demands on their Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Traditional ground-based EMS face challenges related to traffic congestion, remote access, and delayed response times.

Emerging aviation technologies, known as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) or Automated Air Mobility (AAM), promise to enhance emergency medical aid delivery. However, a knowledge gap persists concerning the economic feasibility of integrating UAM into existing EMS systems, hindering decision-making for policymakers, EMS providers, and stakeholders.

This research bridges this gap by providing a comprehensive understanding of the economic, operational, and societal implications of utilizing UAM in EMS. The study identifies and quantifies the direct and indirect costs associated with UAM and traditional EMS operations, evaluates their benefits, compared safety records, discusses social and ethical implications, and provides actionable insights for potential UAM adoption.

The research concluded that both Drone EMS Delivery and eVTOL UAM EMS Operation offer promising alternatives to traditional EMS delivery and HEMS operation respectively. While the initial investment in technology and infrastructure for these services can be higher than their traditional counterparts, the operational cost per mission and per minute of flight time can be considerably lower. This is largely due to the absence of crew costs and the lower fuel consumption of drones and eVTOLs.

However, the research also highlighted several challenges, including the immaturity and less widespread implementation of the technology, issues of privacy, noise pollution, and job displacement. Despite these challenges, the cost-benefit analysis suggests that the benefits of drone EMS delivery and eVTOL UAM EMS operation could potentially outweigh the costs. As technology advances and regulatory frameworks adapt, these innovative methods of EMS delivery could revolutionize the field, providing faster, more efficient, and potentially more cost-effective solutions.

The research recommends careful planning, strategic investments, and a keen understanding of regulatory landscapes for organizations looking to invest in or integrate UAM in EMS operations. Policymakers should develop clear regulations for the use of UAM delivery drones and eVTOLs in EMS services, addressing privacy, noise pollution, and safety issues. Infrastructure and technology investments are key, and public trust in these new technologies will be paramount for their adoption.

In conclusion, the integration of UAM in EMS operations is a complex yet rewarding endeavour. It requires strategic planning, significant investments, and a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape. However, with the right approach, it can revolutionize the EMS sector, providing faster, more efficient, and potentially more cost-effective solutions.

Read the report here.

This deliverable captures the EMS scenarios’ impact on aviation and future UAM regulations.

Civilian drone operations are currently classified in three categories in Europe:

  • Open (very low risk): This category covers flights with drones which pose a low risk and therefore do not require authorization to operate. All flights are limited to stay within visual line-of-sight.
  • Specific (low to high risk): The ‘specific’ category caters for riskier operations not covered under the ‘open’ category, such as flights beyond visual line-of-sight or over people.
  • Certified (very high risk): Any human carrying operations or carriage of dangerous goods.

This deliverable addresses those three categories with the main focus on the Specific category.

Recommendations made in this document are grouped per target stakeholder: European Commission, EASA, National authorities, Cities & Regions and UAM Industry. While some stakeholders are recommended to own and lead the process, some of them are required to be involved. Of course, all parties interested in the deployment of UAM may keep themselves up to date on the development of standards and recommendations.

Read the report by Jonas Stjernberg from Robots Expert here.

AiRMOUR executed the first set of the validation flights in Stavanger, Norway in September 2022. See the video to know what happened and to hear the thoughts of Kari Nessa Nordtun, Mayor of Stavanger and EMS doctor Robert Wilhelm Joseph on drones in Emergency Medical Services.


More information about the AiRMOUR validation flights

AiRMOUR plans to validate the research carried out in the project via real-life drone flights in Stavanger (Norway), Helsinki (Finland) and Kassel (Germany). The validations feature several use cases of life-saving services.

AiRMOUR is a research and innovation project focusing on the development of Urban Air Mobility. The aim of the three-year project is to meet the needs of Emergency Medical Services and provide guidance to municipalities on the opportunities of drone services. A total of 13 partners from six countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) are involved in the project, which is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

In the first half of the project, the AiRMOUR team has carried out research on potential medical use cases, looked for the place of such new drone services in the existing medical system and investigated potential air risks, among other things. Now, the project will proceed to validating the research in real-life drone flights organised from this autumn to spring 2023. The first flights will take place on 21 September in Stavanger, Norway, and continue later in the cities of Helsinki, Finland, and Kassel, Germany.

New knowledge on social and technological aspects of Urban Air Mobility

The AiRMOUR validation flights are planned to include two different drone types (Ehang 216 and Falcon L400) and transportations of both medical equipment and Emergency Medical Services personnel. The deliveries of personnel are most likely to happen by using test dummies. These kinds of new, innovative services are intended to be a useful addition to the existing medical system.

‘The aim of the validations is to progress from less demanding flights and circumstances to the most demanding ones, to increase the overall understanding on what is possible in the European regulatory framework for urban air mobility, with the current operational capabilities and user needs. The expectation is that we will gain a wealth of new state-of-the-art knowledge in terms of the social aspects (e.g. public acceptance, business viability) and also the technological aspects, such as e.g. air risks, ground risks, patient risks, airspace limitations and landing infrastructure – and much more, as determined within our AiRMOUR success criteria work to predate all of the validations,´ says the Coordinator of the AiRMOUR project, Principal Scientist, Doctor Petri Mononen from VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Demonstrations of multiple use cases

During the first AiRMOUR validation flights next week in Stavanger, the operator Ehang Scandinavia will fly a defibrillator over a lake to a person acting as a victim of a heart attack. In November, weather permitting, deliveries of other emergency medical products, such as an EpiPen, adrenaline or specialised medical equipment, will be tested in Helsinki. The final round will be held in Kassel, Germany, in spring 2023, focusing on the transport between medical facilities, i.e. ‘A-to-B flights.’ In Luxembourg, the validations will be carried out as a simulation.

‘Our early validations run primarily to gather a lot of data for further analysis – but very importantly, they also serve as benchmarks for the following ones in order to make sure that we are on the right track in terms of operational capabilities in conformance to the regulations,’ says Mononen.

According to Mononen, all the learnings from the early AiRMOUR validations will affect and improve the following ones. After all the data has been gathered from the validation operations, the project will move into the final analysis and reporting stage to produce the main scientific contributions.

‘The contributions will include meaningful guidance, do’s and don’ts for the rest of Europe to support the safe and effective emergence of urban air mobility,’ he says.

Contact information

The AiRMOUR project

Dr. Petri Mononen
Principal Scientist, AiRMOUR Project Coordinator
VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland
petri.mononen(at)vtt.fi, tel. +358 40 5155 808

The AiRMOUR validations in Stavanger

Terje Rygh
Project Manager, Stavanger Municipality
terje.rygh(at)stavanger.kommune.no

The drones

Ehang Falcon L400

  • Logistic drone with max take of weight of 24,5 kg with max 5 kilos payload to transport
  • Approx. 1,2 meters in diameter
  • Fly AUTOMATED flights with safety pilots that can take remote control if needed
    Typical operations up to 25 km distance
  • Max flight speed 90 km/h
  • Operations in the AiRMOUR project will be executed as VLOS and BLOS in Specific Class, SAIL II with enhanced containment

Ehang 216

  • Passenger grade VTOL
  • Approx. 5,6 meter in diameter
  • No pilot onboard
  • Max take of Weight 600 kg
  • 2 passengers or 220 kg payload
  • Fly AUTOMATED flights with safety pilots that can take remote control if needed
  • Typical operations up to 30 km distance
  • Max flight speed 120 km/h
  • Operations in the AiRMOUR project will be executed according to EASA regulations and requires that the aircraft achieves Design Verification

The AiRMOUR project has published a guidebook on Urban Air Mobility integration process for cities and regions. Any feedback to improve the content of the guidebook is welcome to enhance the final version expected in 2023.

The AiRMOUR guidebook is designed to help city and region decision makers to perceive when and how to invest in the development of Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This first version of the guidebook helps to understand the role a city or region should have if it wants to embrace the new capabilities of UAM and better understand this new type of domain. The guidebook is also relevant for other stakeholders in Europe, as it combines the four main points of view relevant to Urban Air Mobility: urban design and mobility, aviation safety, public acceptance and UAM integration process management. The second, more detailed version of the guidebook is expected in late 2023 to consolidate feedback and project proceedings to present the most relevant insights of the program.

The book is structured around thematic areas, for example citizen engagement, legal aspects or multimodality and is designed to answer the main concerns that have been highlighted by cities:

  • Whether to push or to pull; to proactively offer citizens new solutions or to co-create for a higher adoption rate.
  • Balance between time, money and raw materials when confronted with uncertainties.
  • Anticipate the trade-offs and efficient solutions that really answer the needs of the population.
  • How to engage citizens in a meaningful manner.

The book also covers low tech solutions that bring groundbreaking results and reminds cities of stakeholder groups that are too often forgotten.

See the AiRMOUR deliverable 6.2 ‘Guidebook for UAM integration’ (pdf)

Please send your feedback to [email protected]


For further information on the Guidebook, please contact:

Benoît Larrouturou, [email protected]

The AiRMOUR project organised an open call in spring to invite 10 cities and regions to join the development of Urban Air Mobility as Replicators. The Replicators have been selected.

The Replicators will bring their local UAM vision, strategy and activities forward by testing and validating the main outputs of AiRMOUR, such as the UAM GIS tool and UAM Guidebook. They also have the opportunity to use ready-made public acceptance surveys of AiRMOUR and to access prioritised the AiRMOUR training curriculum. In turn, Replicators will assist the AiRMOUR project in gaining a better understanding of how to integrate Urban Air Mobility into legal systems and policies throughout Europe.

In addition to the now selected, the Dubai Future Foundation and the City of Stockholm were identified as Replicators in the planning phase of the project.

All the 12 AiRMOUR Replicators are:

  • BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, Hungary
  • Dubai Future Foundation, United Arab Emirates
  • Gdansk, Poland
  • Kempten, Germany
  • Lamia, Greece
  • Riga, Latvia
  • Stockholm, Sweden
  • Tartu, Estonia
  • Toulouse Metropole, France
  • Transport for Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
  • Uddevalla, Sweden
  • Östersund, Sweden

‘This is a splendid opportunity for more in-depth cooperation between cities on the Urban Air Mobility topic. The additional validation of project outputs is of crucial importance to understand the effect of different boundary conditions on the scalability of UAM operations, use cases and tools. In turn, AiRMOUR’s documents, tools and trainings will give Replicator cities a running start to adopting UAM. They can use the outputs and lessons of the project to prepare for concrete Urban Air Mobility activities in their own jurisdiction’, says Project manager Renske Martijnse-Hartikka from Forum Virium Helsinki and adds: ‘The AiRMOUR project partners look forward to the cooperation and wish a warm welcome to all the Replicators!’

For further information, please contact:

Forum Virium Helsinki

Renske Martijnse-Hartikka, renske.martijnse-hartikka(at)forumvirium.fi

See the AiRMOUR project’s global reach on the Partners page

Is your city or region keen on stepping in the frontline of Urban Air Mobility development? Join the AiRMOUR Replicator City Group!

The AiRMOUR project invites 10 cities or regions to join the development of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and prepare themselves for a future where drones will be commonplace in urban areas. Replicator cities will bring their local UAM vision, strategy and activities forward by testing and validating the main outputs of the project and assist in gaining a better understanding of how to integrate Urban Air Mobility into legal systems and policies throughout Europe.

There are several ways to contribute and they all will help the Replicator Cities to develop their own UAM activities. For example:

  • Getting to know the UAM GIS tool, which is a visualisation for city planners and helps to manage and discuss geospatial data related to boundary conditions for UAM operations.
  • Support in applying the UAM Guidebook for Cities, Regions and Operators. The Guidebook looks at UAM from urban design and mobility angles, but also covers aviation safety, public acceptance and UAM integration process management. It provides input to update the city’s SUMP (or other relevant policy plans) and supports a UAM-readiness analysis of a city or region.
  • The opportunity to use a ready-made elaborate public acceptance survey and benchmark the outcomes against results of the AiRMOUR countries. The questionnaire as well as the data collection and processing platform will be provided by AiRMOUR. Replicator Cities will receive detailed insights.
  • Priority access to the free-of-charge AiRMOUR training curriculum, consisting of 3 online courses and 2 masterclasses.
  • A travel compensation of 1000 euros for each Replicator to join a tailored site visit to one of the real-life demos that take place in the 3 AiRMOUR partner cities (Stavanger, Helsinki and Kassel), combined with an AiRMOUR Replicator workshop.

After the closing of Call for Replicators, AiRMOUR’s Executive Management Board will select 10 cities. The aim is that the cities chosen are predominantly European and represent a balanced geographical spread and population size. They do not have to have prior experience with UAM, but need to demonstrate their ambition by applying for the Replicator status by 31.3.2022 or briefly after.


Download the AiRMOUR Replicator City application form and instructions (Word and pdf)


For further information, please contact:

Forum Virium Helsinki

Project Manager Renske Martijnse-Hartikka, renske.martijnse-hartikka(at)forumvirium.fi


The AiRMOUR glossary explaining the key terms of Urban Air Mobility is now out.

The AiRMOUR project has published a glossary of Urban Air Mobility. The glossary includes ca. 50 key terms and it is part of the AiRMOUR deliverable 2.1 ‘Foresight analysis and UAM EMS integration process management’.

Other EU-funded UAM projects have contributed to the glossary, i.e. AMU-LED, CORUS-XUAM, FLYING FORWARD 2020, GOF 2.0, SAFIR-Med and TindAIR. Together with the AiRMOUR project, they form a group which has been working on #UAMExplained glossary and campaigning. The #UAMExplained group’s glossary is to be finalised and published in the form of a brochure in the first quarter of 2022.

The AiRMOUR project works across the domains of aviation, urban & regional planning and management and emergency & non-emergency medical services. The glossary helps different stakeholder groups to find shared terminology and understanding for the discussions of Urban Air Mobility.

See the AiRMOUR Urban Air Mobility glossary