Abstract
Lack of accessibility is both a defining characteristic and a key obstacle for the development of remote rural areas. In the Nordic context, challenging travel conditions have reinforced the need for new, sustainable transport solutions. This article explores the perceived potential of electric aviation as an environmentally low-impact and innovative way to improve accessibility and thereby strengthen the socio-economic development of remote regions. The study applies an analytical framework on accessibility components to explore how electric aviation could strengthen remote rural areas in the Nordic countries. The study adopts a qualitative approach exploring five case studies, selected through a pre-study to identify which routes in the Nordic region would benefit the most from the introduction of electric aviation. These case studies draw on focus group discussions with local stakeholders and aviation experts from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The study offers an analytical contribution by suggesting an additional dimension to Geurs and van Wee’s accessibility component model highlighting the importance of energy infrastructure to better understand and support the green shift in the transport sector. Stakeholders perceived electric aviation as a possible contributor to regional development, but only under restrictive conditions relating to affordability, service frequency, integration with local transport, public trust, and energy infrastructure. The study highlights both the promises and challenges of electric aviation and its perceived potential impact on regional development trajectories in sectors including tourism and healthcare as well as the design of sustainable and context-sensitive transport policies.
Keywords
Electric aviation, Remote rural regions, Regional development, Sustainable transport, Nordic countries
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This Nordregio working paper presents the title and abstract of an article that has been published in the Journal of Rural Studies. The full article is available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016726003827
