FutureFlight

Germany's LBA civil aviation authority this week extended Volocopter’s production organization approval (POA), clearing the way for the company to start serial manufacturing of its two-seat VoloCity eVTOL aircraft. The approval announced on Thursday covers two new Volocopter production and hangar facilities at Bruchsal in Germany that the company built in 2023.

Lyte Aviation has introduced a 19-seat version of its LA-44 hydrogen-electric VTOL aircraft aimed at business and private aviation users. On Thursday, South Korean charter flight start-up Ghenus Air became the prospective launch customer as part of a preorder agreement for 10 aircraft, including three of the new LA-44 X Prime model, four of the 40-seat LA-44 SkyBus, and three of the LA-44C SkyTruck.

Under its new advanced air mobility partnership with Airbus, leasing group LCI will evaluate financing options for the CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL aircraft. LCI has indicated it may introduce new leasing options that would combine aircraft, with infrastructure such as batteries and recharging facilities.

Archer reported it has liquidity of $625 million as it focuses on completing the FAA type certification process for its four-passenger Midnight eVTOL aircraft this year. The company is manufacturing an additional four prototypes and expects to complete 400 flight tests this year, with commercial operations due to start in 2025.

Universal Hydrogen has conducted a first test run with its megawatt-class fuel cell powertrain using its proprietary liquid hydrogen module to supply the fuel. The module powered the company’s iron bird ground test rig for over 100 minutes in an exercise intended to simulate the typical flight time of one of the regional airliners it aims to convert to hydrogen propulsion.

Shortly after Pivotal officially launched sales of its single-seat personal aerial vehicle—a recreational eVTOL aircraft that requires no license to fly—the company’s “tilt-aircraft” architecture has garnered some attention from the U.S. Air Force. 

Aircraft leasing group LCI and Airbus are joining forces to capitalize on the nascent advanced air mobility (AAM) industry. The partners have agreed to collaborate on several facets of the AAM ecosystem, such as partnership scenarios, business strategies, commercialization, and finance. As part of the agreement, LCI will explore leasing and financing options for the CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL aircraft.

AutoFlight on Tuesday demonstrated its five-seat Prosperity eVTOL with a 50-kilometer (31-mile) flight between the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The flight across the Pearl River Delta took 20 minutes, compared with what the company said would have required a three-hour car journey due to local traffic.

The flight was conducted without a pilot on board, but the aircraft did carry four crash-test mannequins of a size and weight comparable to passengers. 

A production line has been established to assemble the electric propulsion systems that will power Lilium's six-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Facing demands from the Nasdaq stock market to maintain a share price above $1, the German company told investors it is carefully managing cash burn for the program, having ended the year with unaudited liquidity of around $218 million.

The certification-conforming prototype of the two-seat Air One that Air plans to start flight testing later this year will feature an electric propulsion system developed by Nidec Aerospace. The Japanese company is also providing the electric motors for Eve Air Mobility's four-passenger eVTOL vehicle.