As manufacturers progress toward type certification of their electric air taxis, preparations for production are gathering pace. And the industry leaders are taking different approaches.
As Dana Jensen, senior industrial policy analyst, keeps watch over the development of advanced air mobility vehicles and their supply chains through the lens of the U.S. Air Force Agility Prime initiative, he has a recurring thought.
Advanced air mobility’s OEMs held their positions for the April listing of the AAM Reality Index, developed by SMG Consulting in partnership with Aviation Week.
Formalizing a relationship first announced at the Paris Air Show in 2019, U.S. regional airline Cape air has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Eviation Aircraft for the purchase of 72 Alice electric aircraft.
Zanite Acquisition has beefed up the committed funding that is backing its planned going-public merger with Eve, Embraer’s urban air mobility spinoff, as it heads into a May 6 shareholder vote on the deal.
In August 2019 I wrote in Aviation Week & Space Technology about how the electronic vertical takeoff and landing sector was a hot topic in the industry.
German energy company EnBW and aerospace research agency DLR have launched a three-year project to explore the use of cargo and passenger drones to support the maintenance of offshore wind farms.
Benefiting perhaps from steadily improving relations between China and Indonesia, EHang has secured its largest commitment to date from an Asian customer with preorders for 100 EH216 autonomous air taxis from Prestige Aviation, an Indonesian aircraft sales and management company.
The FBO division of Europe’s Luxaviation Group plans to develop ground infrastructure for future advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles as it pursues a growth strategy based on building and acquiring new facilities.
Lift Aircraft has been awarded a Phase 3 contract by the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program to continue experimentation and flight tests of its single-seat HEXA electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Hexcel has signed a letter of intent with Archer Aviation to provide high-performance carbon fiber materials for the electric vertical takeoff and landing startup’s production air taxi.
Piasecki is planning to fly an 80-kW fuel-cell powertrain in an off-the-shelf commercial helicopter as a key demonstration step toward development of its PA-890 hydrogen-electric light helicopter.
South Korea’s Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) has secured a 27 billion won ($22 million) investment, primarily for the development of cargo drones powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Helicopter leasing company Lobo Leasing has signed a letter of intent with Pipistrel that includes deposits for the acquisition of 15 Nuuva V300 hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing unmanned cargo aircraft.
Germany’s government has confirmed it is funding a project to modify a Dornier 328 regional turboprop into a flying testbed for zero-emission hydrogen-electric propulsion.
As it works to establish design and manufacturing operations in Montreal, Jaunt Air Mobility has secured two new Canadian investors and advisors, retired Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu and entrepreneur Mitch Garber.
Helicopter and commercial aircraft brokerage Blueberry Aviation has signed an agreement to support Swiss startup Dufour Aerospace in securing launch customers for its Aero2 and Aero3 hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
At the end of 2020, South Korean automaker Hyundai revealed that it planned to field a longer-range regional air mobility vehicle as a follow-on to the electric vertical takeoff and landing urban air taxi it is developing for market entry in 2028.
Citing the need for local policymakers to understand the emerging technologies, the World Economic Forum has launched the Advanced and Urban Aerial Mobility Cities and Regions Coalition.
Honeywell Aerospace sees its urban air mobility (UAM) office creation as a responsible move for a longtime aerospace supplier eyeing a generational shift.
