Europe is extending its lead in building the regulatory foundations for advanced air mobility with the expected release this week by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency of its draft operating and licensing rules for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and their pilots.
Advanced air mobility publicly held companies are staying the course for a startup industry—a roller coaster that saw the average price increase by 15.8% a week ago and then fall by 19.8% this week.
Airbus and Munich Airport, already partners in Germany’s Air Mobility Initiative, are to market turnkey solutions to cities and regions globally interested in developing advanced air mobility ecosystems.
Paving the way for certification of its 100-kW electric propulsion system for general-aviation aircraft, Swiss startup H55 has received its design organization approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Archer has restarted flight-testing of its Maker technology demonstrator, but has significant ground to cover to catch up with its closest rivals in the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing industry.
Spanish unmanned-aircraft manufacturer Umiles has unveiled a concept prototype of an electric air-taxi and its design for a piloted two-passenger production aircraft, the Integrity3. A single-seat design, but remotely piloted, the prototype is planned to fly mid-year.
The advanced-air-mobility supply base is widening, with Airbus selecting automotive industry players KLK Motorsport and M&F Gerg to design and produce the rear fuselage of the CityAirbus NextGen electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi.
A Netherlands’ aerospace cluster plans to develop a hydrogen-electric propulsion system for retrofit to 40-80-seat regional turboprops as a path to securing a position on future Airbus and Embraer sustainable aircraft programs.
A German startup plans to demonstrate the weight-saving structural integration of a battery system into a wing as the first step toward developing a nine-passenger all-electric regional airliner with 500 km (270 nm) range.
Regional carrier Mokulele Airlines has been named the launch partner in Hawaii for Regent’s 12-passenger Viceroy seaglider, an electric wing-in-ground-effect transport for dock-to-dock overwater routes.
The inferiority of batteries as energy sources compared with aviation fuel is widely accepted. Yet electric aviation startups continue to push the envelope of what battery-powered aircraft can achieve.
The uncrewed aircraft division of Kenya Airways, Fahari Aviation, has signed a letter of intent with Embraer spinoff Eve for up to 40 electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
With a design maximum takeoff weight of 1,400 kg (3,100 lb.), equivalent to a light general-aviation aircraft, the single-engine UAV made a 27-min. first flight on June 18.
Netherlands’ electric aircraft startup Venturi Aviation has closed a €3.4 million ($3.6 million) funding round and unveiled a new name, Maeve Aerospace.
UK-based Vertical Aerospace has appointed former European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification director Trevor Woods as its regulatory affairs director.
