Almost 70% of private equity and venture capital professionals expect the amount of money their industries invest in the aviation sector to increase between now and the end of 2020. Just 4% expect it to fall.

In terms of which new aviation areas private equity and venture capital professionals find most exciting, 85% said vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) such as air taxis are attractive, closely followed by 84% who pinpointed the use drones in the freight industry.  Electric planes, pilotless aircraft and supersonic jets are also seen as potentially attractive investment opportunities.

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Area of aviation Percentage of PE/VC professionals who see this as  very attractive Percentage of PE/VC professionals who see this as  quite attractive Percentage of PE/VC professionals who see this as  unattractive Don’t know
The use of drones in the freight industry 62% 23% 15% 0%
Electric aircraft 35% 27% 27%% 12%
Vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) 23% 62% 8% 7%
Supersonic aircraft 19% 35% 31% 15%
Pilotless aircraft 8% 54% 31% 8%

Why aviation?

As for the factors that make aviation appealing to professional investors, 54% of private equity and venture capitalists said the growing need to find ways to reduce costs and emissions within the freight industry is ‘very important’. This was followed by 46%  who said this about the need to find cleaner ways of travelling, and 38% who said this about the growing number of people who want to fly.

Factors that make aviation appealing to professional investors Percentage of PE/VC professionals who see this as  very important Percentage of PE/VC professionals who see this as  quite important
Growing need to find ways to reduce costs and emissions in the freight industry 54% 31%
Need to find cleaner ways of travelling/reduce emissions 46% 31%
Growing number of people who want to fly 38% 42%
Need to tackle growing urban transport problems 35% 42%
Growing government/regulatory support to change the industry 27% 54%
Technological developments making it easier to fly much faster e.g. supersonic 23% 54%
Pilot shortage 23% 54%

Alasdair Whyte, co-founder, Revolution.Aero said: “Our research shows that professional investors are well aware of the huge developments taking place in aviation at the moment, and the growing list of exciting projects that hope to revolutionise all aspects of the industry.”

Revolution. Aero’s first European meeting is taking place in London on March 11 and 12 at The Royal Garden Hotel.

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