Advanced Air Mobility

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.

Boosted by a $23 million Series B financing round funded by investors with combined balance sheets exceeding $300 billion, UK vertiport startup Skyports is increasingly confident that, when certified urban air taxis do become available, the needed infrastructure can be in place.

Pioneer Aerospace, an experienced manufacturer of parachutes and aerodynamic deceleration systems for NASA space missions, has been acquired by Aviation Safety Resources, a company developing aircraft recovery parachute systems for the advanced air mobility market.

U.S./Spanish startup Skydweller is to add a hydrogen fuel-cell power system to its extreme-endurance, solar-powered unmanned aircraft under a $14 million contract from the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit in conjunction with the U.S. Navy.

Hydrogen-electric propulsion startup ZeroAvia has partnered with zero-emission vehicle refueling company ZEV Station to develop a hydrogen refueling infrastructure for airports in California.

The U.S. must develop propulsion technologies that are not dependent on rare propellants subject to extreme price volatility.

FedEx’s autonomous air cargo; Flying on synthetic kerosene; Volansi’s bigger cargo UAV; and Lighter hydrogen tanks.

Spirit AeroSystems (Europe), based in Prestwick, Scotland, has signed a term sheet in principle with UK startup Electric Aviation Group (EAG) to collaborate on the development of technologies to support zero-emission flight.

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.

Lilium's chief operating officer explained to Aviation Week why certification of its Lilium Jet had slipped.

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.

U.S. unmanned air logistics company Volansi has unveiled its largest and longest-flying aircraft to date.

With Swiss International Airlines as its first customer, solar kerosene startup Synhelion has selected Germany’s Ineratec to provide the Fischer-Tropsch technology required to produce carbon-neutral aviation fuel using concentrated sunlight.

EHang is targeting mid-2022 for Chinese certification of its EH216-S autonomous two-seat air vehicle and preparing to announce the first group of Chinese cities where it plans to launch commercial urban air mobility services in the second half of the year following airworthiness approval.

D-Fend Solutions, a five-year-old Israeli counter-drone company with a growing North American presence, plans to become a publicly traded company, co-founder, Chairman and CEO Zohar Halachmi told Aviation Week in March.

Turkey’s Istanbul Kultur University is to lead an urban air traffic management (UATM) demonstration program supported by the EIT Urban Mobility initiative of the EU’s European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

For the second consecutive week, stocks in the Advanced Air Mobility Composite showed improved price per share.

The UK aerospace industry has broadly welcomed a government decision to provide £685 million ($897.2 million) in funding for the Aerospace Technology Institute to accelerate the development of green aviation technologies.

Startup HyPoint has partnered with an aerospace R&D company to combine its aircraft fuel cells with liquid hydrogen tanks and offer manufacturers the ability to carry more hydrogen for greater range.

Honeywell Aerospace sees its urban air mobility (UAM) office creation as a responsible move for a longtime aerospace supplier eyeing a generational shift.

For a key supplier famous for not chasing high-growth prospects, setting up a UAM business group seems incongruous. Except it is not.

Of the five electric air taxi developers that have been involved in going-public mergers with blank-check companies, only two are following the tried-and-tested aerospace business model of manufacturing, selling and supporting their aircraft.

Investment in advanced air mobility OEMs should cross over the $6 billion mark upon completion of Eve UAM’s merger with special purpose acquisition company Zanite Acquisition.

Joby Aviation has begun building the first production prototype for certification flight testing of its S4 electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.