FutureFlight

German eVTOL developer Volocopter has partnered with Aviation Safety and Quality Solutions (ASQS), an Austrian software company, to help it design and produce aircraft to certification standards. Under the partnership, Volocopter will implement ASQS’s integrated quality and safety management system (IQSMS) in all aspects of its business, including engineering, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance.

Airbus and Japanese helicopter operator Hiratagakuen are working together to create a simulation of ideal flight routes and a concept of operations for eVTOL air taxi services in the Kansai region. A demonstration flight is scheduled to take place there later this year.

A $15 million investment by United Airlines in Eve Air Mobility accompanies a conditional purchase agreement for 200 four-seat electric aircraft plus 200 options calling for first deliveries as early as 2026. The companies plan to study the development, use, and application of Eve’s eVTOL vehicle and the so-called urban air mobility ecosystem.

Electra has completed a fully integrated test of its hybrid-electric propulsion system for a nine-seat electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) demonstrator that is scheduled for first flight by the end of the year. Planning eventually to scale the system for larger aircraft, the company also wants to adapt its eSTOL vehicle for hydrogen and battery-electric power.

VPorts, a Mirabel, Québec-based company founded in 2021 to develop AAM infrastructure, last week announced its plans to create the region’s first eVTOL vertiport network.. Initially, VPorts will focus on regional cargo flights and the transportation of patients and medical supplies, including organs for transplants. 

Volant Aerotech has unveiled a full-scale technology demonstrator of the four-passenger eVTOL aircraft VE25, for which it aims to achieve type certification in 2026. The Chinese company rolled out the first full-scale example of the lift-and-cruise design on September 2 at an airfield in Yixin, a city near Shanghai.

Safran has begun talks to acquire Thales’s aeronautical systems business next year. The proposed transaction would involve Thales Avionics Electrical Systems and Thales Avionics Electrical Motors companies, which operate sites in the Paris region in Chatou, Meru, and Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, as well as the support, maintenance, and production activities for aeronautical electrical equipment in Florida and Singapore.

Destinus, a Swiss start-up that aims to develop a hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft for high-speed cargo deliveries, has resumed test flights with its Jungfrau technology demonstrator after the initial test flight of a second, larger prototype didn’t go as smoothly as planned. 

Jeju Island has announced its intention to launch eVTOL air taxi routes for tourists in 2025, making it South Korea’s first municipality to adopt plans for urban air mobility. Three flight paths along the island’s coastlines will connect the Jeju International Airport to some of the island’s most popular tourist destinations. 

Kaman Aerospace is preparing to start flight testing its Kargo UAV logistics vehicle later this year, with the U.S. Marine Corps having contracted it to build a prototype to be used for demonstration and evaluation purposes. The company is marketing the autonomous vehicle as a pilotless alternative to far heavier and more costly piloted helicopters such as the MV-22 Osprey that are currently used to resupply troops.