Pilots wishing they could be taking to the skies with their drones – and other aviation enthusiasts with George Jetson fantasies – will soon have another option to the flying car projects already under development with the nearing rollout of the home-assembled Rotor X Dragon Personal Air Vehicle (PAV).
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
Next-generation aircraft developer Archer passed another milestone in what had already been an eventful year for the company, with its Maker prototype electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft making its first full transition flight this week.
Expand Expanding Close
UK electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft infrastructure specialist Skyports is teaming up with multinational private airport operator Corporación América Airports (CAAP) to develop a network of vertiports across Latin America.
Expand Expanding Close
China’s leading developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) planes for air taxi operation, EHang, is broadening its work with authorities in Europe to help usher in urban air mobility (UAM) operating systems and services.
Expand Expanding Close
A main selling point of companies developing next-generation electric aircraft is that the nearing launch of air taxis will not only provide passengers faster commute times across cities or to airports than current ground transportation, but also offer those services at costs close to those of regular cabs. A recent study, however, raises questions about what those prices will actually involve.
Expand Expanding Close
France’s Groupe ADP, the public company that manages all of Paris’s airports, is moving to broaden its more recent activities in vertiport development through a deal to create infrastructure for air taxis and other electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Abu Dhabi.
Expand Expanding Close
Less than a week after it announced the postponement of its planned 2024 launch of air taxi services due in part to expected delays in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines on craft certification, Joby has received the regulator’s proposed airworthiness criteria for its electric takeoff and landing planes (eVTOL).
Expand Expanding Close
Joby, a leading developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for air taxis and other services, has said it is pushing plans to launch commercial transportation services back a year to 2025, citing internal considerations and shifts in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification criteria.
Expand Expanding Close
German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi developer Volocopter has raised over $180 million in new funding that it says will help power the company through certification and into its launch of aerial services by mid-decade.
Expand Expanding Close
Lilium’s effort to market its electric takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) around the world has gotten a boost from a 100-craft deal with Saudi Arabia’s national airline, Saudia – its first foothold in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.
Expand Expanding Close
Following XPeng’s recent 1024 Tech Day event in China earlier this week, we have finally been able to share video footage of its latest generation of eVTOL built by AeroHT. As promised during the presentation, XPeng’s flying car prototype completed its maiden flight and has the receipts to prove it. You’ve gotta see this.
Expand Expanding Close
Automotive giant Hyundai’s unit dedicated to developing next-generation advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft, Supernal, has turned to aerospace company BAE Systems to create and produce the flight control tech for its future electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis.
Expand Expanding Close
Next-generation aircraft developer Joby says it has applied for design certification of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane in Japan, which is expected to be a particularly promising market for urban air mobility (UAM) activities.
Expand Expanding Close
Germany-based drone start-up Quantum-Systems has bagged $17.5 million in new funding from investors, including billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel who cofounded PayPal and was the first outside investor in Facebook.
Expand Expanding Close
Nascent eVTOL racing league Airspeeder has successfully completed what it is calling the “world’s first electric flying car race” during its inaugural EXA Series event. Two EXA team pilots went head to head in South Australia using remotely operated eVTOLs, kicking off a development league that will eventually feed into global Grand Prix series. Check out the video recap of this historical event kicking off electric flight racing.
Expand Expanding Close
XPeng’s urban air mobility (UAM) company AeroHT has demonstrated huge progress for eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles by showcasing its fifth-generation X2 ‘flying car’ publicly taking off, flying, and successfully landing during a demonstration in Dubai. Additionally, the company offered a progress update for its sixth-generation flying car, which is an actual car with wheels that drives and can take off and fly. Check it out.
Expand Expanding Close
United Airlines is going beyond its investments in shorter-range electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis with companies like Archer and Eve Mobility, and preparing to reinforce its relationship with a Swedish maker of battery-powered planes that will operate on its regional US routes.
Expand Expanding Close
Italy took a significant step closer to the launch of advanced air mobility (AAM) services with an event at Rome’s Fiumicino’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport featuring the country’s first crewed test flight of an electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane designed for use as an air taxi.
Expand Expanding Close
Will Joby become the Tesla of futuristic electric takeoff and landing craft (eVTOL) and operator of sustainable air taxi services while having to battle the kind of ferocious nay-saying that Elon Musk did? In some ways it already has, after attracting the unwanted attention of a hostile hedge fund that’s reinforcing its short positions on the company’s stock by circulating in-house research dramatically decrying the activity and revenue targets Joby presented to its investors as utterly unattainable.
Expand Expanding Close
Wisk, the Boeing-backed developer of electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis, has unveiled its sixth-generation passenger aircraft it calls the “first self-flying, all-electric, four-passenger… candidate for type certification” from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Expand Expanding Close
This is shaping up to be a busy and auspicious week for electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi developer Lilium. Just days after the German company hailed the success of its Phoenix 2 prototype’s first full transition flight, its boss announced a search for new funding to enable what he said would be initial production targets of 400 craft each year.
Expand Expanding Close
Embraer’s urban air mobility unit (UAM) Eve has struck a multi-faceted deal with aerial service provider BLADE India that includes an order of 200 of the Brazilian company’s future electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Expand Expanding Close
Developer of electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis, Vertical Aerospace has completed the first test flight of its VX4 prototype in what it says was the first trial of a new UK aircraft in two decades.
Expand Expanding Close
