Are Consumers Ready for Flying Taxis? A Choice-based Conjoint Analysis of eVTOLs in Germany

Increased urbanization leads to urban traffic challenges such as increased congestion, longer travel times and more transport emissions. Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircrafts may offer the answer to these challenges as they can act as flying taxis and transport passengers in a fast and eco-friendly way. However, it is still unclear under what conditions consumers will prefer flying taxis over traditional transport modes. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to compare consumer preferences for eVTOLs, public transport and taxis across different travel scenarios. Thus, we perform a choice-based conjoint analysis with travelers in Germany considering price, travel time and CO2 emissions. Conducting conditional logistic regressions, we show that consumers prefer eVTOLs over traditional taxis, and also over public transport for time-sensitive trips.