FutureFlight

Reykjavik Flight Academy's commitment to buy three all-electric eFlyer training aircraft from Bye Aerospace will support the school’s environmental benchmarks.

Eve Urban Air Mobility has begun cooperating with commercial partners and government entities for the development of a concept of UAM operations in Rio de Janeiro, where the Embraer subsidiary plans to conduct demonstrations using conventional helicopters by the end of the year. The company is developing a four-passenger eVTOL aircraft that it expects to enter commercial service in 2026.

Advanced air mobility ground infrastructure Skyportz has forged an alliance with Australian helicopter operator Microflite to support the introduction of new electric aircraft for applications including air taxi services, medical support, and freight deliveries. The companies will look to support other prospective eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft operators and develop an ecosystem to support the expansion of the new mode of transportation across the country.

Under an agreement with Electra, helicopter group Bristow is to add 50 new eSTOL fixed-wing aircraft to its fleet starting in 2026. Bristow will help the start-up to bring the model to market, providing input on design as well as customer and regulatory requirements. It views middle-mile cargo deliveries as one of the most promising areas of demand for the hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft.

Carbon-reducing propulsion solutions like sustainable aviation fuel and battery-based electric power reduce aviation's dependence on fossil fuels, but proponents of hydrogen power say they can achieve the ultimate zero-carbon objective for the air transport sector. According to innovators like Universal Hydrogen, HyPoint, and ZeroAvia, they could get converted aircraft into commercial service as early as 2025.

InfiniDome's GPS resilience technology mitigates the impact of GPS signals getting jammed, and this capability will now be combined with navigation sensors that avionics group Honeywell is providing for eVTOL aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems. The new capability could be available on the market during the first half of 2022.

EHang says it will now focus on generating revenues from eVTOL aircraft operations and supporting wider air mobility platforms. The Chinese company recently opened its production facility at Yunfu and expects to assemble as many as 600 vehicles there each year. It will also use the site to advance development of its larger, longer-range VT-30 eVTOL aircraft.

Piasecki plans to use HyPoint's air-cooled hydrogen fuel cells for the PA-860 compound helicopter it aims to bring to market by 2025. Under a new partnership, the two companies will also offer the technology to developers of eVTOL aircraft.

Archer and parking garage group Reef are working to identify multiple rooftop sites for urban air taxi services across America. They say that underused locations will provide cost-effective ground infrastructure while requiring only "light retrofitting."

Ampaire is using a converted Cessna 337 Skymaster as a flight testbed for the electric propulsion system it intends to employ to convert existing aircraft such as the Twin Otter and the Islander, promising operating cost savings of around 30 percent. The California-based company is conducting flight trials in the UK with airport and airline partners.