Flight booking platform Helipass is to market at least 50,000 flight hours per year in the new Electrical Vertical Aircraft (EVA) being developed by Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions. Under a September 20 agreement, the French group holds an option to increase the number of available annual flight hours to 100,000.
According to Helipass president Frederic Aguettant, his company's partner operators will fly the four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. He told FutureFlight that the aircraft will be either leased or purchased by these operators. The terms of the agreement appear to be similar to other recently announced agreements between Eve and charter retailers such as Ascent, Flapper and Blade.
Eve, which is a subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, says it will help Helipass to introduce to commercial service from 2026 by providing training, on-site support, and technical publications. Paris-based Helipass currently offers flights in helicopters through a network of around 120 operators in 600 locations and is expected to be involved in providing air taxi services with other types of eVTOL aircraft at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Since Eve's aircraft will not be ready by then, Helipass is in talks with other eVTOL manufacturers who may be able to provide capacity at an early date.
According to Helipass, it will offer clients flights for sightseeing trips, transfers between cities and airports, and on-demand charter trips in France and across Europe. Customers will be able to book flights directly using its platform. The Helipass system is directly connected to each of the operators and can see their aircraft availability calendars, passenger information, and details of payments for flights.
“We are very happy about bringing Helipass to our family of partners, increasing the global reach of our solutions to the urban air mobility market,” said Eve president and CEO Andre Stein. “Europe is not only ripe for new mobility solutions, but also very focused on ensuring a more sustainable future, which is very much in line with Eve’s vision.”
