Urban Air Mobility Vertiports: A Bibliometric Analysis of Applications, Challenges, and Emerging Directions

Yannan Lu, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Weili Zeng, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Wenbin Wei, San Jose State University
Weiwei Wu, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Hao Jiang, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Abstract

Vertiports, as the foundational ground infrastructure for Urban Air Mobility (UAM), have garnered increasing scholarly attention in recent years. To examine how the existing literature has reviewed and summarized vertiport-related knowledge, this study conducts a bibliometric analysis of publications (2000–2024) from four major databases, including Web of Science and Scopus, using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. By analyzing co-citation and keyword co-occurrence patterns, the results suggest that vertiport research frontiers are shifting toward facility location, network planning, airspace and scheduling management, scalable infrastructure, and integration with ground transport systems. Scholars and institutions in the United States, China, Europe, and South Korea have taken leading roles in advancing this field, though collaboration among research organizations still requires strengthening. Overall, the findings reveal future research pathways and provide support for the planning and integration of vertiport infrastructure in UAM operations.