German air taxi developer Lilium has announced a pair of deals providing it a foothold in China to build future business activity in what’s expected to be an enormous and effervescent market for advanced air mobility (AAM) services.
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Urban air mobility startup Volocopter is finding additional ways to expand uses for its battery-powered craft beyond its principal air taxi services, most recently through a new deal concluded with fellow German organization ADAC Luftrettung to deploy the planes in emergency medical response.
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California air taxi developer Archer Aviation announced the reinforcement of its relationship with European automotive giant Stellantis at the opening of the Paris Airshow today, notably the tightening of their financial ties and increasing of their production plans for the Midnight electric takeoff and landing aircraft.
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Eve, the urban air mobility (UAM) unit of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, has announced joint plans with United Airlines to launch future air taxi flights across the San Francisco Bay Area as an aerial commuter option to the region’s frequently clogged roadways.
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Archer Aviation, one of the companies driving the nearing launch of air taxi services, has announced its hiring of former top Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official Billy Nolen to oversee safety operations in the continued development of its electric vertical takeoff and landing plane (eVTOL).
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Supernal, the advanced air mobility (AAM) unit of South Korean automotive giant Hyundai, has taken a minority shareholding stake in micro-climate specialist TruWeather Solutions, whose hyper-localized atmospheric tech solutions will be used in operating safe and comfortable air taxi services.
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German air taxi developer Volocopter has signed an agreement with Swiss-AS to incorporate the startup’s AMOS software to monitor, analyze, and manage notifications on the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) requirements of its electric takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL).
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Aviation giant Boeing has taken full ownership of electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Wisk – a step that closes out the role of cofounding backer Kitty Hawk in the startup’s activity.
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Eve Mobility, the electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) unit of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, says it has passed a pair of milestones in its push to launch next-generation air taxi services, including testing vital components of its future prototype plane.
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Developer of the battery-powered advanced air mobility (AAM) Viceroy seaglider, REGENT announced it is continuing testing of its quarter-scale version of the craft nearly nine months after the diminutive prototype successfully performed its inaugural trial outing.
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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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Efforts to prepare for urban air mobility (UAM) services in South Korea will be accelerating this year, as officials in Seoul plan the launch of a two-phase series of air taxi trails in and around the capital.
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Transport authorities in France have lifted the veil a bit more on demonstration air taxi services slated to debut during the Paris Summer Olympics next year, including the anticipated cost of a ride between Charles de Gaulle Airport and a riverside Seine vertiport of about €110 (just over $119).
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Boeing-backed air taxi developer Wisk Aero says it has entered an agreement with Japan Airlines (JAL) to facilitate certification and eventual introduction of its autonomous passenger aircraft across the archipelago.
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In another sign that the advent of urban air mobility (UAM) services like air taxis is near, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued its latest blueprint on how those new, largely battery-powered aircraft will be phased in during early operation.
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Just a month after reports circulated about its increasingly tight financial situation, German air taxi developer Lilium says it has secured $100 million in what it expects will be $250 million in new funding.
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Leading developer of battery-powered air taxis, Joby, is finishing April with a pair of major business accords, including a deal worth $55 million to provide its electric vertical takeoff and landing planes (eVTOL) and flight training to the US Air Force.
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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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German air taxi developer and urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter has opened its first complete aircraft production facility, which it plans to kick into full operation later this month.
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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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Air taxi developer EHang is closing out March with a pair of announcements on its activities preparing for future advanced air mobility (AAM), including news its unpiloted passenger craft has entered the final phase of certification with China’s regulators.
EHang reported on the progress of its EH216-S air taxi in a communiqué on its 2022 financial results. In it the company said the craft had entered “the final phase of Demonstration and Verification of Compliance” with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). It also suggested the vehicle might have advanced even closer toward final type certification (TC) if it hadn’t been for considerable disruptions caused by COVID-19 peaks in the country.
Read: Archer, United announce air taxi link between Chicago and O’Hare
In describing progress of EH216-S testing, EHang said “more than 90% of the entire TC process has been completed, which is believed to be the fastest progress among all TC projects of electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft worldwide.”
EHang added it had received over 100 orders for the future air taxi from customers in China, and that it continues adding to its over 34,000 test flights of the craft already made around the globe.
“At present, several EH216-S conforming aircraft, which were manufactured in EHang’s Yunfu production facility, have successfully passed the manufacturing conformity inspection by CAAC and are undergoing required compliance tests at flight bases in Guangzhou and Hezhou as well as laboratories in other locations,” the company said. “Based on the CAAC-agreed compliance test plans, more than 70% of tests have been or will be completed soon, including laboratory tests, ground tests and inspections, flight tests and data analysis.”
Read: EHang air taxi aids European testing of UAM air traffic projects
This week EHang also announced the successful completion of testing of an autonomous airborne beacon designed to improve positioning information on drones and AAM craft like air taxis.
The company said the year-long BAUD project with Spain’s Advanced Center for Aerospace Technologies and government ministries had been wrapped up with all objectives met. The system uses the UAV-transported beacon to interface with positioning platforms like Global Navigation Satellite Systems, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, and Galileo to communicate information on drone and AAM craft status, remote identification information, and other tactical data to surrounding U-Space operators.
“We are delighted to announce the successful completion of the BAUD project, achieving all of its goals and objectives,” said Victoria Xiang, EHang chief operating officer for Europe and Latin America. “EHang welcomes public-private partnership opportunities for research, development, and investment in the UAS field in Spain. This has encouraged EHang to execute several innovation projects, share EHang’s world-leading technology and extensive international experience on Urban Air Mobility, and strengthen our wide technological collaboration network in Europe.”
Embraer urban air mobility (UAM) company Eve is moving again to prepare for the launch of future air taxi services by striking a new partnership in vertiport and air traffic management (ATM) system development with a unit of international transport infrastructure group Ferrovial.
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