The 2023 Airtaxi World Congress is coming to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in October, drawing hundreds of attendees from more than 70 countries to discuss the nascent urban air mobility industry as several eVTOL air taxi developers are preparing to certify their aircraft in the next 18 months.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the event will be public flight demonstrations of several eVTOL aircraft on the morning of October 5, although event organizers say they are still working with the FAA to finalize those plans. If all goes according to plan, a live-streamed video of the flight demonstration will be available online.
Event organizers have not yet revealed which aircraft might participate in the flight demonstrations. Several leading eVTOL developers are located in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, including Joby, Archer, and Wisk—all three of which are already flying with prototypes. (Joby and Archer both plan to have their piloted, four-passenger aircraft certified and in service by 2025, while Wisk’s fully autonomous and pilotless air taxi isn’t expected to be certified until the end of this decade.)
The event will also include a static aircraft display, panel discussions with industry leaders, skills workshops, and dedicated networking opportunities. Event organizers say that more than 500 leaders and stakeholders from across the urban air mobility (UAM) industry are expected to attend, including investors, aircraft manufacturers, suppliers, and operators, as well as representatives from airports and governments.
At least 275 companies will be represented at the event, including Beta Technologies, Ehang, Electra.aero, Eve, Lilium, Opener, Overair, Plana, Skydrive, Supernal, and Volocopter.
The Airtaxi World Congress is an annual event organized by Global Travel Investments, a UK-based marketing and strategy consultancy that works with the air transport and travel industries. It was held online in 2020 and took place in London in 2021. Last year’s event was held in Istanbul and drew more than 300 attendees from 133 companies and 35 countries.
Registration for the 2023 Airtaxi World Congress is now open. The event officially begins on Monday, October 2, and runs through Thursday, October 5. However, panel sessions and presentations are not scheduled to begin until Tuesday, October 3. A full program is available on the event website.
