Altaport and professional services firm WSP have released a concept of operations (ConOps), providing a detailed approach on the critical business requirements of a Vertiport Automation System (VAS).

While the concept of a VAS has been addressed in recent years in various whitepapers and concepts of operations, this new VAS ConOps discusses a VAS’s role in integrating critical operational and business requirements in a way that will maximize the value of a vertiport network.

The VAS ConOps is the result of a collaboration among Altaport and WSP, as well as several other leaders in the Advanced Air Mobility space, including BluSky Services, GeoRQ LLC, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Harper4D Solutions, and ResilienX.

The document adds context to both operational management of a vertiport, as well as alignment with key business objectives that will drive economic value and facilitate growth within the AAM sector.

The ConOps details several concepts related to the management of a vertiport through a VAS, such as:

• Adoption of modern operational concepts including Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) and Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) at the VAS and operator level, whether adopted generally at the NAS level or not.
• Inclusion of an economic dimension within the TBO framework, allowing for the vertiport and aircraft operators to take into consideration the economic or business value of an operation when necessary (e.g., due to atypically constrained availability of resources), appropriate, and permissible.

Read Altaport and WSP’s full Concept of Operations for further information on the critical business requirements for a VAS.

https://www.wsp.com/-/media/insights/us/2024-vertiport-automation-system-whitepaper/vertiport-automation-system-whitepaper.pdf