FutureFlight

Surf Air Mobility's efforts to stimulate the adoption of hybrid-electric propulsion in aviation are mainly focused on its prospective Ampaire subsidiary and a new alliance with Textron Aviation to convert its ubiquitous Cessna Grand Caravan fleet of turboprop utility aircraft.

The Skai will be powered by liquid hydrogen, generating electricity via fuel cells to drive six sets of motors and rotors. Alaka'i Technologies claims this approach makes the vehicle far more operationally flexible than battery-powered eVTOL models.

Bell first unveiled the Nexus eVTOL mockup at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2019, but since then the company has not provided any substantial updates on how the program is progressing. The helicopter manufacturer will be exhibiting the design in the Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building's Futures show this fall, along with other examples of its technological achievements.

The California-based start-up is working to convert turboprop regional airliners to hydrogen propulsion using its proprietary technology, which includes delivering the fuel directly to the aircraft in capsules that are fitted in the rear of the fuselage. It is opening an engineering and design center at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France, close to the headquarters of European aerospace group Airbus.

Bye Aerospace's eFlyer family of all-electric light aircraft are proving popular with flight training schools as they promise to reduce the cost and environmental impact of preparing new pilots. KLM Flight Academy in the Netherlands this week ordered six of the eFlyer 2 aircraft and eight of the larger eFlyer 4s.

The vertiport being developed by Skyports for the new London community of Brent Cross Town will be connected to a new train station, as well as to other existing transportation links. It will be used to support planned eVTOL air taxi services across the UK capital, with Skyports now laying plans for a network of vertiports at multiple locations.

Germany's D3 Technologies is developing an air traffic management solution to support advanced air mobility operations in which multiple eVTOL aircraft would operate within and between cities. Its latest partner is Walle Mobility, which plans to deploy aircraft such as the Jaunt Journey eVTOL in air taxi services across Italy beginning in 2026.

As part of a concerted strategy to diversify its business model away from heavy reliance on offshore oil and gas industry support flights, Bristow has forged three agreements with electric aircraft developers over the past month. Between Electra Aero, Vertical Aerospace, and now Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions, it is set to add up to 200 eSTOL and eVTOL models to its fleet.

XTI Aircraft is preparing to build its full-scale prototype of the TriFan 600 aircraft in 2022, with a view to achieving a first flight by April 2023, en route to anticipated service entry by the first quarter of 2025. Operating in VTOL mode, the hybrid-electric model would have a range of up to around 750 miles, but the company says that this could increase to almost 1,400 miles in STOL operations, making the aircraft a more direct replacement for business jets.

Vertical Aerospace today appears to have the largest order book in the eVTOL sector, with purchase agreements covering 1,350 units and customers on four continents for its VA-X4 model. Prospective operators include two major airlines, a leasing group, a helicopter company, and now Japanese trading and investment conglomerate Marubeni, which Vertical believes will be able to lay the groundwork for advanced air mobility services in the country.