air taxis

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane manufacturer Archer has announced a deal to outfit a host of airports across the US run by aeronautical fixed-base operator Atlantic Aviation with charging equipment for electric ground transport vehicles and future air taxis.

Competition appears to be heating up between electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane manufacturers Joby and BETA Technologies, with the two startups announcing deals to install their air taxi recharging systems in airports on opposite sides of the US.

To understand how uncrewed vehicles avoid each other and other obstacles, researchers at NASA recently flew multiple drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). The test is being seen as an important step towards advancing self-flying capabilities for air taxis.

EHang continues to advance toward the introduction of air taxi services following the reception of the “Type Certificate” of its EH216-S electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft from China’s regulators, and most recently inaugurated its Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Operation Demonstration Center in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district. Yet despite – or perhaps because of – its continued progress, the startup’s US detractors appear bent on complicating its launch of passenger activity with repeated attacks.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has introduced a digital space to enable exchange between stakeholders of future advanced air mobility (AAM) craft – from drones to air taxis – and act as a resource for interested members of the public who’ll ultimately be using their services. The question now is, will José and Jacques Q. Public actually consult the platform?

German air taxi developer Lilium has announced the passing of two major milestones with the production launch of its electric vertical takeoff and landing jet (eVTOL), and an agreement to explore the craft’s operation in partnership with the nation’s flag carrier airline, Lufthansa.

German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane startup Lilium has obtained authorization from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that will allow it far greater flexibility and range in developing its future battery-powered air taxi toward certification.

European urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter is experiencing unexpected turbulence in its efforts to roll out initial air taxi services around the world, with its launch project in Singapore reportedly having been put on hold just as its plans to debut aerial activity in Paris have met sharp political opposition.

Leading global advanced air mobility (AAM) company Joby may have decided to set up its future production line in Ohio as the most financially alluring locale vying for its presence, but California is looking to get as much job creation and economic activity from the Santa Cruz-based air taxi startup before its focus shifts east – and has just handed over a nearly $10 million grant to prove it.

The planned global introduction of air taxi services next year during the Paris Summer Olympics already risks being grounded after city authorities from across party lines joined up this week to lavishly dump on what elsewhere in France and the world has been the tech’s much-ballyhooed debut.

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) plane company Joby revealed it staged an exhibition flight in New York, establishing its air taxi as the first ever to take to the skies of Manhattan, and opening the way for future next generation aircraft activities.

The advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure unit of UK-based drone services specialist Skyports has been chosen for the second phase of a concept of operations (ConOps) project by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), to prepare for the arrival of air taxi operation in the country.

In a direct rebuff of this week’s announcement by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane rivals Archer and BETA Technologies on co-developing an open-use aircraft recharging system, air taxi company Joby not only insisted it’s sticking with its own battery-juicing tech, but urged the entire sector to adopt it as the industry standard to boot.

Air taxi developer Joby has offered a few reminders of why it has gained the reputation for being among (if not the) leading advanced air mobility (AAM) companies with an update to investors revealing it had completed 84% of its Stage Three certification work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In a move reflecting the national interests in the race between next-generation aviation companies to bring advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles to market, Japan’s SkyDrive has received 12.4 billion yen ($82.7 million) from the government to support the development of the startup’s electric vertical takeoff and landing craft (eVTOL).

With the anticipated start of air taxi services in the US set for 2025, it’s not exactly premature for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to have issued its first approval of a vertiport – a conditional greenlight that nevertheless permits development and research of nearing advanced air mobility (AAM) activity.

Adding to its collection of precedents in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft development, Joby said it has become the first manufacturer of future air taxis to deliver its craft to a US customer – in this case the Air Force.

Japan-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane maker SkyDrive has gotten a bit more tailwind in the commercialization push of its three-seat “flying car” with an order of 50 craft from leasing firm Solyu of South Korea.

The looming arrival of battery-powered air taxis may conjure futuristic, Jetson-esque images of urban aerial travel, but California aviation startup Jump Aero is eschewing the allure – and anticipated profits – of that mass market transportation potential to develop an electric takeoff and landing plane (eVTOL) designed exclusively for getting medical responders to patients in time to provide critical care.

German air taxi developer Volocopter has inked a deal with international aviation services company Bristow Group, covering 80 of the startup’s VoloCity aircraft for services planned in both the US and UK.

H2FLY, the German affiliate of air taxi developer Joby, has passed a major technological and aviation milestone in clear power transportation, with the successful test flights of what it hailed as the world’s first piloted electric aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen.