At this year’s Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) Conference, Ram Kamath, representing Bauhaus Luftfahrt and the MultiModX project, contributed to a growing shift in sustainable aviation discussions: placing the passenger at the centre of strategy.
While sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and clean propulsion technologies remain crucial areas of research, this year’s ATRS sessions revealed increasing interest in understanding and influencing traveller behaviour as a key lever in decarbonising air transport. Speakers, including Wen-Chun Tseng, Henrik Wittwer, and Julia Herget, underscored this point with compelling talks on how passenger preferences, perceptions, and decisions shape the trajectory of aviation sustainability.
In his presentation, Ram Kamath introduced a novel approach to identifying and predicting passenger profiles using agile modelling and data-driven tools. This work is part of the broader research efforts under MultiModX, a project funded by SESAR and the European Union, which explores multimodal transport solutions with a focus on integration, digitalisation, and environmental performance.
Kamath’s contribution emphasised the importance of understanding how passengers respond to different travel options, particularly when nudging behaviour toward more sustainable choices such as modal shifts, off-peak travel, or multimodal alternatives.
The ATRS Conference, held annually, is a leading forum for academic and industry researchers in air transport economics, policy, and operations. It provides a valuable platform for exchanging ideas at the intersection of technology, strategy, and traveller behaviour.
MultiModX’s participation reflects its commitment to addressing the complexity of sustainable mobility not just through infrastructure or fuels, but through smart, passenger-centric insights.
