EPATS Expert Workshop took place in the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre in Bretigny sur Orge (France) on 19 April 2007.

In line with the Strategic Research Agenda of the Advisory Council for Aeronautic Research (ACARE) and under contract of the European Commission the EPATS project (European Personal Air Transportation System) will address 3 major issues related to future personal transport:

The first issue will analyze mobility patterns and factors influencing demand, then compare alternative transport modes and analyze the market responsiveness to innovative aviation products. Based on the efficiency criteria an estimate will be made of the demand for future personal air transport in Europe.

The second issue is the question whether and how the European ATM system would be able to cope with additional traffic, and what the consequences of personal air transport will be for European airports.

The final issue addresses the technologies that would be needed to develop innovative personal aircraft, being better than the first generation of personal aircraft.

More than 20 participants from 11 countries attended the workshop and 10 presentations were listened and discussed. Mr. Josef Jironc from VZLU presented general objectives of CESAR project. He highlighted interrelations with the EPATS intentions and expressed interests of joint meeting between CESAR and EPATS especially at the moment of workpackage concerning CESAR components integration.

EPATS project is led by Institute of Aviation (IoA) in Poland and with an 18-month mandate it is focused on assessing the European market for personal air transportation. EPATS has the potential to become the EU voice for the future widely distributed public transportation system using smaller aircraft and community airports.