FutureFlight

Starting in 2026, Halo, which is part of Directional Aviation's OneSky Flight business aviation group, plans to operate 100 of the Eve eVTOL aircraft in the U.S. and another 100 in the UK. The company has been formed by combining helicopter operators Halo Aviation and Associated Aircraft Group. According to Halo it considered almost a dozen other eVTOL models before signing the agreement with Embraer's Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions subsidiary.

UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has unveiled cabin concept designs for its under-development Airlander 10 passenger airship. The company is raising funds to prepare the hybrid-electric aircraft for service entry in 2025, with an all-electric version to follow in 2030. It says the airship's low environmental footprint and ability to operate in city centers make it a viable alternative to airline services.

Anyone is invited to submit names for UAM vehicles and operators in the Urban Air Mobility Names Challenge. Held by Varon Vehicles and Flight Crowd, the challenge looks to find names that will stand the test of time and be instantly recognizable and pertinent.

Responding to a call from Airbus, Air France-KLM, Groupe ADP, and the Choose Paris Region for airport hydrogen projects, the selected 11 organizations and/or consortiums proposed a range of projects surround distribution, storage, development, use, and lifecycle of hydrogent.

Several Irish business groups have joined forces with vertiport specialist Skyports to develop the infrastructure needed to support eVTOL aircraft for passenger and cargo services. The partners want to be ready to launch initial operations from Shannon Airport from 2022.

Blade Urban Air Mobility passengers traveling from Manhattan to the Hamptons and Nantucket will be able to ride on all-electric Cessna Caravan seaplanes from early 2023. Aircraft operator Lima NY has agreed to convert the aircraft to use MagniX's electric propulsion units, replacing the Caravan's existing turboprop engine.

The Vertical Flight Society's annual Design-Build-Vertical-Flight competition is intended to motivate and inspire engineering students to consider working in the advanced air mobility sector, developing eVTOL aircraft technology. Seven university teams were recognized in this year's event, with the University of Michigan coming out on top.

Administrators liquidating the assets of battery technology group Oxis Energy are taking bids for 43 patent families covering lithium-sulfur systems and other new applications and designs. The company went into administration on May 19 after failing to secure fresh investment, despite having secured partnerships with electric aviation companies such a Bye Aerospace and Safran.

The VoloDrone is expected to start business-to-business services in the next three years, carrying payloads of up to around 440 pounds over distances of 25 miles. The unmanned aircraft will use an autonomous flight control system jointly developed by Germany's Volocopter and U.S.-based robotics specialist Near Earth Autonomy. The partners plan a beyond visual line of sight flight demonstration in 2022.

The first of the converted King Airs is being flight tested at Mojave in California as Merlin Air works with its partner Dynamic Aviation to secure FAA approval for a supplemental type certificate. The partnership calls for up to 55 of Dynamic's King Airs to be converted for autonomous operations in a variety of pubic- and private-sector roles, provided as a service to clients.