FutureFlight

A memorandum of understanding between Airbus and ITA Airways calls for joint work on urban air mobility development in Italy. The agreement calls on the companies to recruit local partners to participate in the launch of operations with the CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL aircraft, now under development. The parties also agreed to identify pilot cases with the goal of securing public acceptance of UAM by local communities.

LCI is one of several aircraft leasing groups planning to invest in new eVTOL vehicles like the five-passenger Alia 250 being developed by Beta Technologies. The Ireland-based group has now placed deposit-backed orders for an initial 50 units and has options for another 75.

Under a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Reliable Robotics will propose a plan for converting new and existing military aircraft to remotely piloted operations. The technology could be used to support missions including cargo delivery, logistics, and surveillance.

Surf Air Mobility is no longer acquiring Ampaire, as announced by the companies last year. Instead, Ampaire will soon pursue a Series B funding round to increase available capital to support its efforts to convert the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft to hybrid-electric power. It recently conducted the first ground tests with the new integrated propulsion system.

Pyka says its Pelican crop sprayer is already being used by fruit producers in Latin America under an experimental license, and it is seeking similar approval in the U.S. With $37 million raised through a Series A funding round, the company is close to launching a cargo-carrying variant of the autonomous aircraft.

Infrastructure specialist Urban-Air Port partnered with eVTOL aircraft developer Supernal to display the Air-One concept for a multimodal transportation hub that could integrate eVTOL aircraft and drones into cities. The concept was unveiled this week at Coventry in the UK and will start a tour of other international cities later in 2022.

The 2022 Elevate Summit in Brooklyn will bring together advanced air mobility business leaders, decision-makers and stakeholders to discuss how to get eVTOL air taxi services kick-started. Joby is now hosting the event, having acquired the Elevate aerial ridesharing app from Uber, which previously organized the gatherings.

Safran makes turbofan and turboshaft engines for established fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, but now the France-based company is betting big on the propulsion needs of new electric aircraft. Its growing list of partners in the advanced air mobility sector includes Aura Aero, VoltAero, and Bye Aerospace.

BAE Systems will supply energy management equipment and expertise to GE Aviation to support NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project. Under the contract, BAE Systems will design, test, and supply energy management components for electric aircraft in the megawatt power class. The NASA project calls for the execution of ground and flight-test demonstrations over the next five years.

Europe's air safety regulator, EASA, has said it will concurrently validate the anticipated UK Civil Aviation Authority type certificate for Vertical's VX4 eVTOL model. The company expects to receive its Design Organization Approval later this year and also start flight testing a full-scale prototype.