FutureFlight

Uber Elevate head Eric Allison provided an update on the group's plans to launch ride-hailing services with eVTOL aircraft during Invest in Bavaria's Urban Air Mobility 2020 conference. He said the company does not expect disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic to delay its plans to begin operations during 2023.

Denmark-based Falck says it is setting up initial test operations with an unnamed "technical partner" to use manned eVTOL aircraft for emergency response work. The company has 25,000 employees in 30 countries.

Safety, noise, and economics are among some of the key challenges in developing an infrastructure for urban air mobility, according to a panel of experts speaking at a session on infrastructure at Invest in Bavaria's recent Urban Air Mobility 2020: Future of Aerial Transport & Logistics conference.

Jaunt Air Mobility, PS&S, and Price Systems are joining efforts to prepare the growing urban air mobility (UAM) industry for flight operations with customers on board. PS&S is an architectural firm and Price Systems is a cost-estimation technology company.

Tecnam says the short- to medium-range P-Volt aircraft will be ready to enter commercial service during the second half of the 2020s. It has not yet specified projected performance for an aircraft that will be based on its latest piston-powered P2012 model.

Roland Berger's urban air mobility experts Stephan Baur and Manfred Hader addressed an October 22 conference organized by the German state of Bavaria’s U.S. Offices for Economic Development. They say Covid has disrupted the emerging sector but has not derailed its future.

In a recent presentation to the Vertical Flight Society's Forum 76 conference, transportation consultant Denis Heckmann detailed environmental, engineering, and cost obstacles to the launch of eVTOL aircraft operations in some locations.

Honeywell has condensed its fly-by-wire flight control technology for use on much smaller unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and eVTOL models. The new Compact Fly-By-Wire system can support both autonomous and piloted operations.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit transportation companies like Uber hard, raising questions across the urban air mobility sector as to whether timelines for service entry may have to be modified.

VoltAero has partnered with airport and infrastructure group Edeis to make the case for its hybrid-electric Cassio eSTOL aircraft. The partners say the aircraft will deliver cost-effective regional air services to underserved communities, along with reduced carbon emissions.