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Eve Air Mobility is displaying a model of its Eve 100 air taxi in its pavilion at the 2026 Farnborough Airshow.
FARNBOROUGH, England—Eve Air Mobility has moved into its next phase of flight testing, having completed several months of preparatory groundwork activities for its eVTOL engineering prototype.
“Our engineering prototype is back in the air, after three months of software upload, of ground testing, integration,” CEO Johann Bordais announced July 19 at the Farnborough Airshow. “Now we are in the transition phase.”
The battery-electric-powered prototype closed its hover phase of testing in April, the CEO detailed. It is currently in “transition kickoff” with lift rotors remaining on, before advancing to full wingborne flight—a transition Eve aims to complete by year’s end. First flight of the prototype was achieved in December 2025. In the months since, Eve has completed 59 flights and logged 2.5 hr. of flight time. Now returned to airborne tests, Eve will gradually expand the transition envelope as it moves through the rest of the year, incrementally shifting lift from its rotors to the fixed wing.
“After more than 90 kt. that's basically the moment that we turn off the lifters, the blades,” Bordais explained. “Above 90 kt. then it will be flying, it will be windborne, it will be basically an aircraft.”
The Embraer-backed company targets local Brazilian certification and FAA and EASA validation of the Eve 100 in 2028. Assembly of six conforming prototypes is set to begin later this year. Recent publication of the proposed noise certification criteria for Eve 100 by Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) is a “key milestone in the Eve 100 certification process and demonstrates continued progress toward type certification,” Eve said on July 19, adding that the regulatory update “represents a major step toward establishing the environmental certification framework for eVTOLs.”
As efforts progress, executives described “tangible demand” coming through the market. Eve says it has a backlog of more than 2,700 commitments, including 100 firm orders. New letters of intent (LOI) were announced on the eve of the air show, including one from Switzerland-based Moov for up to 30 eVTOLs to explore advanced air mobility (AAM) opportunities in Cabo Verde and Europe. “The focus is on tourism and regional connectivity with use cases that include sightseeing flights and connections between airports, resorts, ports, and key islands,” Eve CCO Megha Bhatia said.
Additionally, an LOI for up to 16 was signed by Bay Point’s aviation finance arm, Shearwater Global Capital.
Shearwater intends “to offer leasing solutions that will advance operators' access to eVTOLS and catalyze fleet deployment for early operations, as well as for scale thereafter,” Bhatia explained. “It also expands on the emergence of leasing and financing solutions to accelerate the adoption of AAM worldwide—and this is particularly important for our customers, especially as we're looking to convert into firm—they are keen on understanding leasing and financing solutions available to them.”
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