FutureFlight

Nine months after announcing plans to enter the U.S. market, the Germany-based eVTOL developer has been included in Los Angeles's Urban Movement Labs partnership to build a UAM network and launch services, including air taxi flights. The company aims to certify its two-seat Volocopter aircraft in 2023 and has plans for a larger, longer-range model called VoloConnect and a cargo-carrying vehicle called VoloDrone.

Japanese flying car and drone developer SkyDrive has launched a cooperative project with the city of Osaka, building on earlier work to debut air taxi services in time for the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai event. An agreement signed this week includes clearance to start test flights in the city, with data from these to be shared with local officials and other stakeholders involved in Osaka Roundtable for Social Implementation of the Air Mobility Revolution, which was established in November 2020.

Lilium and Archer will raise between 23 and 30 percent less than expected from their New York share flotations this week—$584 million and $847.6 million, respectively. This is due to high percentages of shareholders in their respective SPAC merger partners, Qell and Atlas Crest, opting to exercise their rights to redeem stock before the "business combinations" closed. It remains to be seen whether this is due purely to shifting sentiment in the wider SPAC sector or to a more specific cooling towards advanced air mobility stock.

The widespread availability of recharging stations at airports will be imperative to the successful expansion of electric aircraft operations. Business aviation services group Clay Lacy is one of the first in this sector to announce an investment in the required ground infrastructure at its chain of fixed-based operations in the U.S.

Operators of new eVTOL aircraft in the advanced air mobility sector are expected to recruit thousands of pilots and mechanics to support anticipated high-volume operations. Aviation training group CAE, which has supported airlines, business aircraft operators, and the military for decades, is investing time and money to develop training programs and equipment for manufacturers such as Beta Technologies.

Urban Aeronautics is stepping up work on a redesigned version of its five-seater eVTOL aircraft, with a hybrid-electric model expected to enter service in 2026 and a hydrogen-powered one to follow in 2030. Existing backer Besadno has provided more capital, along with new investor Talcorp and a private investor from Brazil.

Andrew Macmillan, London Heathrow Airport's former chief strategy officer, is joining Vertical Aerospace as its director of infrastructure to help prepare for commercial operations of its four-passenger eVTOL model, which are set to begin in 2024. The UK company has also recruited Lilium's former vice president of marketing and communications to be its chief marketing officer.

Shareholders in special purpose acquisition company Qell have approved the "business combination" with German eVTOL start-up Lilium, setting the stage for a September 15 flotation on New York's Nasdaq market. The German company is one of several eVTOL front runners to use a SPAC merger as the basis for a public flotation to raise the substantial capital needed to develop eVTOL aircraft.

Buoyed by early orders for up to 1,000 of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft from blue-chip customers including American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and leasing group Avolon, Vertical Aerospace is stepping up efforts to achieve type certification by 2024. Its VA-X4 prototype is close to being ready for a key first flight before the end of 2021.

Paragon Aerospace intends to establish a manufacturing facility in the Texas border town of Brownsville, where it wants to complete the development of and start manufacturing its Soar hydrogen-powered VTOL aircraft. The company aims to raise more than $1 billion to bring an aircraft to market with a range of up to 900 miles.