German advanced air mobility (AAM) plane developer Lilium has announced a pair of business developments that – while not eliminating the financial pinches the company has faced of late – offers new signs that its cutting-edge electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are finding eager buyers needed to assure the company’s success.
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Advanced air mobility (AAM) company Vertical Aerospace has established a multi-faceted partnership with the self-described “super app provider” mobility unit of South Korea’s internet giant, Kakao Corporation, including pre-orders of up to 50 of the UK startup’s VX4 air taxis.
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Hyundai’s advanced air mobility (AAM) unit Supernal has announced it has formed a strategic partnership and taken an equity stake in transportation and defense radar specialist Echodyne to assist the aircraft developer’s future navigation systems.
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US developer of next-generation seaglider aircraft, REGENT, is building momentum toward the eventual launch of its water-hovering passenger plane with two new business announcements led by the unveiling of the full-scale version of its prototype craft.
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Advanced air mobility company REGENT has gotten a boost in its effort to market its electric seaglider as a more affordable and efficient alternative to next-generation aircraft designed to operate from ground terminals, with investments from US defense giant Lockheed Martin and Japanese freight and logistics firm Yamato Holdings.
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All startups developing next generation air taxis and longer distance advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft face a wide range of technical, engineering, and production challenges as they guide planes toward certification, but German company Liliumnow finds itself wrestling with increasingly tight financial reserves that better funded rivals do not.
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South Korean air taxi and longer-range advanced air mobility (AAM) company Plana has been expanding its business footprint of late, and as part of that is opening offices in the US to facilitate the certification process of its next-generation aircraft.
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French advanced air mobility (AAM) startup Ascendance Flight Technology says it is revving up its push to finalize the prototype of its ATEA hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) plane, thanks to new investment of €21 million ($22.6 million).
Toulouse-based Ascendance said it had raised the new financing from existing backers and several new investors including Bpifrance, a public-private fund that supports France’s most promising tech startups. Ascendance said the infusion will be used to finish the full-scale prototype of its ATEA VTOL, and begin test flights to prepare for certification and eventual large-scale production of the AAM plane.
The company says it has already signed 245 memos of understanding with customers keen on buying the aircraft.
Last October, Ascendance signed an agreement with Air France-KLM maintenance, repair, and operations unit AFI KLM E&M, making the Franco-Dutch airline group not only a potential buyer of ATEA VTOLs, but also a major industrial partner in servicing AAM craft.
Read more: AAM startup Ascendance links with Air France-KLM’s MRO unit
ATEA is designed to fly a maximum of 400 kilometers at 200 km/h, and boasts a quick 10-minute turnaround time. It is expected to take its first test flights this later year, before being featured in AAM demonstrations during the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.
Unlike most AAM craft developers, Ascendance has conceived the five-seat ATEA VTOL to operate using a hybrid propulsion system. That Sterna solution uses distributed electric motorization compatible with both tradition or sustainable fuels, including hydrogen cells.
The concept was created by Ascendance founders, who are veterans of Airbus’s E-Fan program that continues development of the aviation giant’s all-electric passenger plane. Aware of the limited capacities of current battery technologies, however, they devised Sterna to use combustible materials or hydrogen cells to drive generators that create electric power the craft relies on.
Read: HevenDrones unveils its first of three hydrogen-powered drones planned for 2023
The new $22.6 million in funding to get an ATEA prototype aloft to enable testing and certification work follows an $11.7 million infusion Ascendance received in September of 2021.
Ascendance cofounder and CEO Jean-Christophe Lambert predicts the financing will prove essential to the company’s push to take its ATEA VTOL to market faster, and in so doing give France a prominent spot in the emerging AAM sector.
“This fundraising round is critical for sustainable aviation in France,” says Lambert. “It is a logical step forward in our roadmap for the industry’s energy transition. It will accelerate the technical and commercial development of our products while also contributing to our central aim: to build a sustainable model for cleaner air mobility.”
UK-based Global Travel Investments Limited has announced the program for its fourth AIRTAXI World Congress, which this year will be bringing together the main players in advanced air mobility (AAM) craft, infrastructure, tech, and investment activity in San Francisco – home to several leading next-generation electric aircraft developers.
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The Biden White House has released a policy report on its priorities for developing new aviation technologies, like electric vertical takeoff and landing planes (eVTOL), autonomous drone services, air taxis, and other forms of advanced air mobility (AAM) to preserve what it says is US leadership in the aeronautical sector, “made possible by American ingenuity and bolstered by the federal government.”
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Aviation experts at NASA are preparing the tools that will be needed for safe and easy navigation of future air taxis and drone services, and to facilitate that work they’ve teamed up with advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft developer Joby.
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The operator of Belgium’s Brussels airport is taking another step in its involvement in and support of UAV and next generation aircraft development by acquiring a 30% stake in DronePort, a project seeking to create a full ecosystem for advanced air mobility activity (AAM).
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US developer of vertiports Volatus Infrastructure is teaming up with South Korean advanced air mobility (AAM) plane developer Plana in an effort to close what appears to be a significant gap in preparing for next-generation aircraft services: having necessary ground assets set up and operating by the time air taxis are ready to begin transporting passengers.
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Next generation advanced air mobility (AAM) company Joby announced it has completed the second of five stages in the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification process, placing the company on course to debut air taxi services planned for 2025.
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Wisconsin-based vertiport specialist Volatus Infrastructure has announced additional business that – while admittedly modest – reflects the company’s efforts to enlarge its foothold in the design and construction of advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure – an activity that, up until now, seems to be largely dominated by European and South American companies.
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Wisk Aero, a California developer of autonomous air taxis, has announced the retirement of CEO Gary Gysin, who will be replaced by company board member and Boeing veteran Brian Yutko effective February 1.
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As developers of air taxis and other advanced air mobility (AAM) craft move closer to certification and launch of services, efforts by national regulators to coordinate standards and operating rules have gained momentum – most recently with an agreement between the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the South Korea Office of Civil Aviation (KOCA) to cooperate as rollouts near.
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Supernal, the advanced air mobility (AAM) unit of South Korean automotive giant Hyundai, has struck a partnership Microsoft to create cloud-based tools for use in craft design and flight simulation, and eventually in the manufacturing and maintenance of planes.
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Urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft developer Eve has been a hard-charging arrival to the next-generation aviation sector, and in less than two years after its October 2020 inception has revealed numerous deals after going public with a successful Wall Street listing. Despite that, the Embraer unit now says it has secured new financing for continued development of a vehicle it has yet to present.
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China-based advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft manufacturer EHang has struck an investment deal worth up to $20 million with a Chinese state-backed urban and economic development zone, suggesting the publicly listed company needs more cash than it possesses to continue working toward certification and production.
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Aerial strategy and infrastructure specialist DronePort Network has formed a partnership with Osage LLC to develop and manage the large, multi-purpose Skyway 36 aviation facility, whose use by fixed-wing planes, drones, and next-generation passenger craft will be the cornerstone of the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility project (TRAM).
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No doubt inspired by its nation’s status as one of the most environmentally conscious on the planet, flag carrier Air New Zealand has revealed four aircraft development companies it has selected to begin test flights of zero-emission planes in 2026.
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Next-generation aircraft developer Eve is finishing what has already been an eventful 2022 with a pair of deals to prepare for the introduction of future electric vertical takeoff and landing planes (eVTOL) and other advanced air mobility (AAM) services.
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German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Lilium says it has secured a deal with a UK air services provider for 10 confirmed orders for the Pioneer Edition of its advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles, and an option for another 10 – nearly half of the 50 luxury planes the company plans to produce.
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