LA Looks to Advanced Air Mobility for 2028 Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games come to Los Angeles in 2028 as the city partners with Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) organizations to ensure AAM is part of the city’s transportation offerings during the Games.
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, believes implementing AAM at the Olympics can serve as a catalyst to expanded use and public acceptance of new technology. He shared the importance of AAM to the Olympic Games with Congress in 2021, saying, “For this technology, the sky is literally the limit.”
Mayor Garcetti, along with other LA leaders and policymakers, realize AAM has the potential to reduce emissions and connect communities, making spectators’ and athletes’ travel between the Athletes’ Village and other locations more sustainable and efficient than traditional ground transportation, and hope the use of AAM at the Olympic Games serves as a demonstration of its potential for other communities.
To this end, Mayor Garcetti led the development and launch of Urban Movement Labs in 2019. Urban Movement Labs, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, aims to make Los Angeles the transportation innovation capital of the world. It is partnering with Overair, Archer, and other electric vertical landing and takeoff (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturers as well as infrastructure developers to make this dream a reality.
If you think 2028 sounds optimistic for the implementation of eVTOLs in air taxi models, Paris is hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and has plans to feature at least two eVTOL routes. French officials and AAM industry representatives are studying the potential use of AAM at the Pontoise – Cormeilles-en-Vexin airfield for implementation in time for the Games.
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, the now former French Minister Delegate for Transport, said late last year, “I’m delighted to see one of the concrete results of this partnership being implemented here in Pontoise, and the whole ecosystem that is coming together… Everything is falling into place: partnerships, innovation, test areas, regulations, financing. All the ingredients for success are there, all that remains is to make it happen.”