Future Air Transport Challenges and Solutions
A special issue of Future Transportation (ISSN 2673-7590).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1031
Special Issue Editor
Interests: air traffic management; air traffic optimization; autonomous flight systems; detect and avoid; remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS); drones; innovative air mobility (IAM); urban air mobility (UAM); air transport sustainability; avionics; decision support systems; aviation automation and autonomy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
International research and development activities in recent years have actively shaped the future of aviation and air transport for the coming decades. The key drivers motivating these R&D efforts, include not only traditional motives, such as the always increasing push for automation translating into autonomy, but also new ones, such as the always increasing consideration of environmental and societal factors, pushing, for instance, for the adoption of reduced-emission air transport forms, accelerating the transition toward more suitable low-emission aviation.
Air transport is one of the most important domains of transport, with a very special role within the broader transport ecosystem: it is the only form of transport devoted to the exploitation of the third dimension, airspace, with work in recent years also broaching the use of urban airspace. With this role comes the responsibility to ensure the efficient use of airspace and minimize the environmental footprint of operations, both in traditional and low-altitude airspace.
The aim of this Special Issue is to provide researchers in the aviation and air transport domains with the possibility of sharing the ideas and results emerging from their latest research and development activities, in this way fostering cross-fertilization and supporting the further development of such outcomes towards high-impact technological advancements. In the framework of Future Transport, therefore, this Special Issue is very important, being specifically devoted to one of the most relevant transport domains, which deserves particular attention due to the number of significant evolutions that are moving it towards profound transformation in the medium to long term, in line with future technological, environmental, and societal needs.
The ambition of this Special Issue is to collect original research articles and review papers that cover myriad aspects of the future of the air transport and aviation domain, being inherently multidisciplinary in nature, as air transport comprises very complex system-of-systems. Based on this, the possible suggested research areas include (but not limited to) the following:
- Integration of new aviation entrants, including autonomous aircraft and drones;
- Integration and synergies between Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM);
- Higher Airspace Operations (HAO) and integration of spacecrafts;
- Next-generation propulsion systems, including hybrid-electric, full-electric, fuel cells, and liquid hydrogen;
- Advanced automation and autonomy in aircraft systems;
- Applications, opportunities, and limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in aviation;
- Automation and autonomy in Air Traffic Control (ATC);
- Decision-support systems for both onboard and ground operations;
- Single-Pilot Operation (SPO);
- Small Air Transport (SAT) and Door-to-Door (D2D) mobility solutions.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Vittorio Di Vito
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Future Transportation is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- future air transport
- automation and autonomy
- sustainable aviation
- urban air mobility (UAM)
- innovative air mobility (IAM)
- air traffic management (ATM)
- unmanned traffic management (UTM)
- advanced propulsion systems
- artificial intelligence (AI) in aviation
- detect and avoid (DAA) systems
- system-of-systems integration
- autonomous aircraft and drones
- higher airspace operations (HAO)
- single-pilot operation (SPO)
- small air transport (SAT)
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
