FutureFlight

Two leading eVTOL aircraft developers, Wisk Aero and Lilium, have announced changes to their senior leadership teams. The moves come at the start of a year that industry observers say could prove critical to the ability of the advanced air mobility sector’s front-runners to meet their ambitious timelines. Both companies are seeking to bring products to market at a time when accessing new sources of funding could be more challenging.

New Future Transportation (NFT), the company behind the Aska personal eVTOL aircraft billed as a “flying SUV,” now says it plans to start offering on-demand air taxi services as early as 2026. However, recently announced plans are based on arrangements that would appear to stretch the current regulatory requirements for commercial flights by building on current practices in the ground-based ride-sharing sector.

Aerus, a new regional airline in Mexico, has conditionally agreed to purchase 30 Alice commuter airplanes from Washington state-based electric aircraft developer Eviation. The airline, which aims to begin operations in the first quarter of 2023, plans to use the nine-seat, fully electric commuter airplane for “middle-mile” travel in northern Mexico.

Software entrepreneur Rolf-Jürgen Moll is joining Germany's Apus Group as a strategic investor in its plans to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft. The company’s January 18 announcement did not disclose the amount of the new funding, but APUS founder and CEO Phillip Scheffel said that it has now raised €40 million ($43 million)—enough to support work to have an initial prototype flying in the first half of 2024.

Supernal, Hyundai Motor Group’s advanced air mobility division, will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to conduct flight simulations with highly autonomous eVTOL aircraft. The company is also looking to incorporate Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 augmented-reality headset into its manufacturing and maintenance activities. 

Jetoptera, a start-up developing innovative VTOL and STOL aircraft concepts using bladeless fan technology, has completed its fourth small business innovation and research  (SBIR) contract for the U.S. Air Force as part of the development work for a High Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) military aircraft. The Washington-based company this week reported that it has conducted an initial evaluation of what it calls its “3-in-1” propulsion system and is preparing to start wind-tunnel tests with a subscale model.

Parker Meggitt's eBuffer will be part of the energy storage equipment for the hydrogen propulsion system Airbus needs for its planned ZeroE airliner. The partners say the technology will complement the hydrogen-electric fuel cell primary power source by making it safer, more efficient, and light.

The agreement for LCI to buy up to 40 of the hybrid-electric Chaparral eVTOL vehicles takes Elroy Air's order book to 900 aircraft with a reported combined value of $2 billion. The leasing group is joining a list of prospective customers for the aircraft that already includes helicopter operator Bristow and delivery giant FedEx.

Destinus, the European start-up developing a hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft, is preparing to start flight tests with a subscale propulsion system prototype on its Jungfrau technology demonstrator in February. The next phase of work will build on recently completed tests using an afterburner it has integrated with an off-the-shelf turbojet engine as part of a long-term goal to produce an aircraft that would operate on intercontinental flights at speeds exceeding Mach 5.

Cornwall, in the southwest corner of England, has become a hub for efforts to demonstrate how drones could overcome infrastructure limitations and generate economic opportunities through services such as ship-to-shore supply flights. Over the next 15 months, the Open Skies Cornwall project will conduct flight trials using a Skyports drone to support real-life use cases with the National Health Service (NHS), Royal Mail, Falmouth Harbour, and the UK military’s emergency relief group JHubMed.