Government officials in the Bao'an district of the Chinese city of Shenzhen now have cooperation agreements in place with three eVTOL aircraft developers: AutoFlight, EHang, and Lilium. As part of plans to develop what they call a "low-altitude economic industry," test flights are set to begin to evaluate how air services could connect communities including Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Supernal, Hyundai’s advanced air mobility subsidiary, has opened its new engineering headquarters in Irvine, California, the company announced on July 25. This facility is where Supernal will conduct the bulk of the development work for its four-passenger eVTOL air taxi, which the company plans to have certified and in service by 2028. 

Eve plans to produce eVTOL aircraft on existing Embraer property in Taubaté, Brazil, which offers close proximity to highways, a railroad, and the company headquarters of its main shareholder in São José dos Campos.

Ampaire, a California-based tech start-up working to retrofit airplanes with hybrid-electric powertrains, is expanding into the eVTOL sphere with the acquisition of drone developer Talyn Air, the companies announced today. Ampaire co-founder and CEO Kevin Noertker told FutureFlight that the company will continue the development of Talyn's unique dual-vehicle eVTOL concept, but it will incorporate a new hybrid-electric powertrain.

Reliable Robotics says the FAA has accepted its certification plans for a fully autonomous flight control system, which the company plans to install on aircraft to enable remotely piloted operations under a supplemental type certificate. The technology is intended to support fully autonomous gate-to-gate trips, including taxi, takeoff, and landing.

Having successfully flown its hydrogen-powered Dornier 228 airplane 10 times, ZeroAvia says it has wrapped up its initial flight test campaign and is now preparing for its first cross-country flights. ZeroAvia retrofitted the 19-seat twin turboprop with a prototype of its 600-kilowatt ZA600 powertrain, which uses hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity. With one of its engines replaced, the converted Dornier 228 made its first hydrogen-powered flight in January at Cotswold Airport in the UK, where the team has continued to flight-test the aircraft for the past six months.

Whisper Aero has broken ground on a flight testing facility in Tennessee, where the tech start-up plans to integrate its ultraquiet propulsion system into future aircraft. The Whisper Aero Flight Test Center will be an 8,000-sq-ft hangar at Crossville Memorial Airport (KCSV), right next door to the company’s headquarters in Crossville, Tennessee. The new space will have high bay areas for the testing and integration of Whisper’s electric ducted fans, plus some additional office space for engineering activities.

Vietnam's CT UAV group and South Carolina-based Part 135 charter operator Austin Aviation this week signed agreements covering preorders for up to 105 of SkyDrive's SD-05 three-seat eVTOL aircraft, which is expected to enter service in 2026. The Japanese manufacturer is establishing a U.S. base in South Carolina and views export markets like Vietnam as promising early adopters of advanced air mobility services.

U.S. senator and White House adviser tour Beta Technologies to consider the case for infrastructure investment; plus funding news from Electra.aero and XTI Aircraft; senior appointments at Archer and Volatus Infrastructure; Opener seeks early customers to evaluate BlackFly personal eVTOL; and Elfly and SkyDrive appoint key suppliers for aircraft programs.

Volocopter is working hard with multiple partners, including Aéroports de Paris, to be ready to start operating its two-seat, all-electric VoloCity aircraft from five sites around the French capital during next summer’s Olympic Games. The race is on to complete type certification with EASA, as the company's chief financial and commercial officer, Christian Bauer, explained to AIN. These short trips will include the first flights directly to a landing platform on the Seine River in the center of Paris, where helicopters are currently banned due to noise restrictions.