Earlier this week, UrbanX Air, which is a subsidiary of Global Crossing Airlines Group, jointly announced with Eve plans to launch air taxi services in South Florida. In 2022, the Miami-based company signed a letter of intent covering potential orders for 200 of Eve’s aircraft.
UrbanX intends to establish a network of commuter flights concentrated in the densely populated Miami-Dade County area. Eve’s aircraft is expected to have a range of up to 60 miles.
Global Crossing Airlines Group’s GlobalX division is a U.S. Part 121 carrier that provides charter services, as well as aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) support, for other commercial operators. It operates passenger and cargo flights, with a fleet of Airbus A320s that is expected to include 20 aircraft by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
In late November, GlobalX founded UrbanX to further its ambitions in the advanced air mobility sector. The group’s chairman, Ed Wegel, appointed Lucy Morillo as the new subsidiary’s president and CEO. She is an attorney, community leader, and entrepreneur who sits on the Florida Department of Transportation’s Advanced Air Mobility Advisory Committee and Eve’s Air Mobility Advisory Board.
In the second half of 2024, UrbanX intends to apply for its own Part 135 air operator certificate. According to Morillo, the company aims to be ready to start commercial flights in early 2027, within around 90 to 120 days of Eve completing FAA type certification. It will seek to recruit pilots in conjunction with GlobalX by developing the eVTOL operation as a way for pilots with fewer than the 1,500 flight hours required for airline service to build their experience.
Planned routes will likely launch with services from Miami International Airport into downtown Miami and to Fort Lauderdale. Other potential routes could include the cruise ship port, Homestead, and Key Largo. Some services will be scheduled, while others will be on-demand, and these could include operations from landing sites established in high-end residential properties.
Morillo told AIN she is exploring options for applications that could bring benefits to a wider cross-section of the communities in which UrbanX will operate. These could include medical support flights and operations on behalf of county governments. The company is now refining its revenue model and indicated that initial pricing would likely be comparable to Uber Premier car service.
To fund the new venture, GlobalX is now in talks with prospective investors, although it intends to retain a large minority stake itself. Wegel told AIN UrbanX is exploring possibilities for expanding operations to cities such as Tampa, Orlando, and San Juan, as well as in parts of the Caribbean region. It may also seek partnerships with major airlines.
Brazil's Air Safety Agency Consults over Eve's eVTOL Type Certification
Brazil’s National Aviation Safety Agency (ANAC) has launched a public consultation on the special airworthiness criteria it proposes to use for the type certification of Eve Air Mobility’s four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. The sector consultation (No. 10/23) opened on December 12 and will close for comments on Feb. 16, 2024.
Eve has yet to publicly confirm the name of the aircraft it aims to bring to market in 2026, but ANAC’s documentation refers to it as the EVE-100 model. The proposals essentially spell out all the criteria on which the all-electric aircraft will be assessed for airworthiness.
The publicly listed company, in which Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer is the majority shareholder, has started assembling the first full-scale prototype in Brazil and intends to start test flights in 2024. It recently added three key suppliers to the program: Garmin (avionics), Liebherr-Aerospace (flight control actuators), and Intergalactic (thermal management system).
With sister company Atech, Eve Air Mobility is also involved in planning for the air traffic management services that will support eVTOL operations. It recently conducted a simulation exercise in the UK using helicopters operated by another prospective customer, Flexjet.
