Self-piloted recreational flights over the Hudson and East Rivers in New York could begin as early as 2023 using Lift Aircraft’s single-seat, semi-autonomous Hexa electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle.
As it looks ahead to certification and operation of its urban air mobility vehicles, China’s EHang has formed a partnership with commercial aircraft maintenance provider HAECO Group to develop after-sales support for its autonomous air vehicles.
South Korea’s SK Telecom has signed an agreement with Daegu Metropolitan City to integrate urban air taxis into the future mobility ecosystem of the country’s fourth largest city and its planned new airport.
Airports and fixed-base operators that plan to service electric air vehicles should have plans in place at least a year ahead of their arrival, says the developer of the Alia-250 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Detailing its plans for deploying the several types of advanced air mobility vehicles it has on order, Bristow Group says it is important for established operators to play an active role in ensuring the safe introduction of the new types of aircraft.
California-based electrical vertical takeoff and landing startup Overair has begun assembly of the XP-1 uncrewed full-scale demonstrator for the Butterfly tiltrotor air taxi which is expected to fly by the end of 2023.
South Korea’s Pablo Air has been contracted by NASA to use one of its multicopters to measure wind speed in urban airspace, part of a larger effort to study urban weather for advanced air mobility.
China’s XPeng AeroHT has completed the first public flight of its fifth-generation X2 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, in Dubai, as it prepares to release details of its planned sixth-generation fly/drive vehicle.
Flying personnel or equipment around U.S. Air Force test ranges has been identified as a likely early application for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.
The first crewed electric vertical takeoff and landing flight in Italian airspace has been conducted from the country’s first fully functional vertiport at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport.
Lessors have played a major role in boosting the conditional orderbooks of electric aircraft startups, from Avolon’s preorder for 500 Vertical Aerospace four-passenger air taxis to Rockton’s letter of intent for 40 Heart Aerospace 30-seat regional airliners.
When Eve Holding launched its electric vertical takeoff and landing commuter flight demonstrations in Chicago, the goal was to gather as much data and information as possible to formulate what a future commuter operation would look like.
Business aviation operators are eager to get their hands on advanced air mobility platforms, but infrastructure uncertainties may slow their introduction, panel discussion participants at the Air Charter Expo say.
Ferrovial Vertiports, which is working with Lilium to develop a network of vertiports in Florida for operation of Lilium Jets, is extending its partnership with infrastructure consulting firm AECOM.
Universal Hydrogen CEO and co-founder Paul Eremenko has another project lined up toward meeting his long-held goal of transforming regional air transportation
Live drone flights under a European project to validate the use of autonomous aircraft for emergency medical services are planned to begin in Stavanger, Norway, on Sept. 21.
“Much of the focus in advanced air mobility today has been on the vehicle,” says David Stepanek, the Bristow Group’s chief transformation officer. “There hasn’t been a lot of focus, or any focus at all, on what happens after production."
