Evaluation of the Use Cases of eVTOLs with High Potential in the Philippines and Thailand

This study aims to select and evaluate the promising use cases of multirotor electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Philippine and Thai markets. With the high potential of eVTOL aircraft for practical use in Southeast Asia, identifying which countries and use cases are promising is necessary. We conducted interviews with doctors of two institutions with helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in Thailand to elucidate current challenges in HEMS and airframe requirements for “emergency medical services (EMS)” use case. Next, we conducted interviews with 12 local stakeholders in the Philippines and Thailand to gain information on the challenges surrounding the implementation of eVTOLs for the “Sightseeing/Leisure” and “Urban Air Mobility (UAM)” use cases within the specified locations. Then, we quantitatively evaluated the stakeholder perceptions using the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix to select promising use cases. Finally, we performed Fermi estimate to calculate the market size with constraints. The results showed that HEMS in Thailand needs two-seater eVTOLs to dispatch only a doctor to the field as in Japan; however, the feasibility of this use case is lower than other use cases considering the specifications required by doctors. The Sightseeing/Leisure use case in Cebu is the best use case for eVTOL implementation with stakeholder perceptions in mind, whereas the UAM use case in Bangkok is better for sales.