PEGASUS · PILOTING EUROPEAN GREEN AIR MOBILITY AND SERVICES FOR URBAN SOCIETAL READINESS

Urban mobility across Europe is under unprecedented strain, with congestion, emissions, and infrastructure limitations threatening climate neutrality and liveability. Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) including drones and eVTOL systems, offers a transformative solution for low-emission logistics and services. Yet, widespread adoption depends not only on technical feasibility but also on societal readiness: trust, acceptance, and integration with daily life. PEGASUS addresses this challenge by embedding societal readiness as the central axis of IAM innovation, co-design, and deployment.Bringing together four of Europe’s leading IAM operators with social scientists, city authorities, and citizens, PEGASUS will pioneer a Societal Readiness Score (SRS) for IAM. Leveraging over 200,000 completed missions and 200 daily ongoing operations, the project will define, test, and improve this multidimensional metric covering noise, privacy, safety, energy, climate, and inclusivity. Real-world demonstrations in Ireland, Portugal, Italy, and Bulgaria will validate technical and operational innovations designed to increase societal readiness, from low-noise propulsion and optimised flight paths to participatory planning frameworks.PEGASUS will deliver a validated IAM evaluation platform and Societal Readiness Scoreboard empowering policymakers, regulators, and operators with an evidence-based decision-support toolkit. The project will co-develop infrastructure guidelines, multimodal logistics integration models, business frameworks, and public engagement strategies, ensuring IAM is economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and socially trusted. Outcomes will directly inform Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, producing a roadmap and replication toolkit for EU-wide adoption.PEGASUS will set the standard for responsible, scalable urban air mobility in Europe accelerating climate neutrality, enabling economic growth, and fostering public trust in next-generation transport.