In a bid to promote the commercialization of drone-based products and services, a plan to build a 165-mi. network of drone “superhighways” linking cities across the UK has been submitted by a consortium led by unified traffic management provider Altitude Angel.
Chinese startup TCab Tech has conducted transition flight tests with a 50%-scale demonstrator of its planned E20 electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.
So far, Beta Technologies and Volocopter are showing it is possible to build a billion-dollar business in advanced air mobility without the distraction of going public.
Ferrovial Airports has appointed Bob Montgomery as head of vertiports business development and Brad Miller as vertiports managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
JetBlue Technology Ventures, the airline’s investment arm, has participated in a $13 million funding round by battery developer Electric Power Systems.
German hydrogen propulsion startup H2Fly has claimed the first flight by a hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft between two commercial airports after flying its four-seat HY4 testbed from its base in Stuttgart to Friedrichshafen for display at the upcoming Aero Friedrichshafen show.
New Zealand’s Ocean Flyer, a new company formed by the owner of small charter operator Air Napier, has placed firm deposits with U.S. startup Regent for 25 sea-skimming electric seagliders for harbor-to-harbor overwater regional transportation.
Despite advances in electric propulsion and battery energy density, as well as a patent filing showing its interest in hybrid-electric systems, Bell is taking a more conventional route to AFWerx’s High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing Challenge.
Management changes are not unusual as companies go through their different phases of growth, but Archer Aviation’s April 19 announcement that co-founder and co-CEO Adam Goldstein had been named the startup’s sole CEO came as a surprise to many.
Safran is gaining experience in electric propulsion, testing prototypes and studying aircraft architectures as it positions itself as the supplier of a full range of motors for all-electric and hybrid propulsion systems, from light aircraft to narrowbodies.
A potential order for five electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft by the U.S. Air Force in fiscal 2023 may not register on lists of the largest customers for the flying taxi industry, but could still have a major impact on the experimental technology.
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.
