Capturing the Demand for an Electric-Powered Short-Haul Air Transportation Network

A procedure for the assessment of the capability of a regional network system based on electric-powered commuter aircraft, christened SHARONA (Short-Haul Air Route Optimal Network Assessment), is illustrated. The environmentally-friendly and efficient alternative to road travel represented by this service, especially for longer distance commuting, generates a potential demand for a given territory that takes into account the competition with ground-based transportation means. Subsequently, an optimization algorithm defines a complete air transportation network for the territory at hand, being capable to capture the highest possible share of the potential demand, based on the availability of a given aircraft fleet. The methodology is applied to define the potential demand and to capture the maximum number of daily commuters in Italy.