Community Friendly Miniliner (UNIFIER19 )

Polimi role:
Partner

Project website

Scientific coordinator:
Lorenzo Trainelli

UNIFIER19, the Community Friendly Miniliner, is an innovative commuter concept specifically designed to enable a new, environmentally sustainable and cost-efficient air mobility solution. This 19-passenger near-zero-emission aircraft is designed to provide a diffused service connecting smaller airports among them and with hubs, accommodating both scheduled and on-demand shuttle flights. The ability of the UNIFIER19 concept to capture the mobility demand for short- and very short-haul travel rests on a dedicated market study focusing on two scenarios: the “miniliner”, serving a potentially huge small airport network, and the “microfeeder”, providing a rapid transfer to hubs from local airports and even unpaved airfields.<br />The capability to achieve substantial emission reduction performance is based on the adoption of modular propulsive solutions including different propellers and different combinations of battery and range-extending technologies. The propulsive architecture is integrated with airframe design, in the quest for maximum aerodynamic advantages, while guaranteeing producibility and maintainability of the design solution.<br />The result is a family of aircraft sharing a single airframe, accommodating multiple cargo and passenger-seating layouts, as well as multiple motive power-generation solutions. Powertrain modularity eases future upgrades via supplementary type-certificates, granting an extended commercial life.<br />Aiming to a reduction in CO2, NOx and acoustic emissions by at least 20% compared to the 19 seaters in service today, UNIFIER19 shall offer a new mobility experience for our communities that is as easy to use as a bus. UNIFIER19 shall exploit the sparse, underused European small airport network avoiding overwhelming burdens for new ground infrastructures and providing a commercially viable response to Europe’s need for mobility.

Program: Horizon 2020

Subprogram: Pillar III - Societal Challenge

Call: H2020-CS2-CFP09-2018-02

Topic: JTI-CS2-2018-CFP09-THT-03 - Conceptual Design of a 19-passenger Commuter Aircraft with near zero emissions

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