The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has needed more time to finalize the means of compliance for the Special Condition VTOL rules that will apply for the type certification of many eVTOL aircraft. It expects to publish these, as well as means of compliance for certifying hybrid and electric propulsion systems, in early 2021.

Over the 12 months since aircraft engines group Rolls-Royce completed its acquisition of the Siemens eAircraft business, the company has been determining how best to advance and apply its electric- and hybrid-propulsion technology. Smaller regional airliners would appear to be the priority in development work backed by UK government funding.

U.S.-based Hatzolah Air has signed an agreement with Urban Aeronautics to be the sales representative and distributor for Urban Aeronautics' CityHawk VTOL aircraft in the global emergency medical services market.

Lilium is further bolstering its senior management team as it aims to meet its objective of beginning commercial operations with its five-seat eVTOL aircraft in 2025. Alastair McIntosh's experience as an EASA-approved accountable manager will be significant.

Through a partnership with Greenland Hong Kong, EHang will offer aerial sightseeing services to passengers, initially from a base in the Forest Lake real estate project in the city of Zhaoqing in China's Guangdong province. The Chinese eVTOL aircraft developer also has welcomed the country's new standards for express delivery services using unmanned aircraft.

French aerospace technology innovator Conseil et Technique is making the case for a radical rethink for the configuration of airliner propulsion systems with its all-electric Integrated Propeller Plane concept.

With Airbus having heavily pressed the case for hydrogen propulsion in 2020, it seems salient that one of the European aerospace group's last tweets of 2020 was to replay video of the past summer's first autonomous flight of its CityAirbus eVTOL technology demonstrator. Observers had wondered whether Airbus might quietly discontinue efforts to bring an all-electric vehicle to market, but the @AirbusHeli tweet insisted that CityAirbus "is one of the main elements of our technology roadmap towards zero-emission flight." The four-minute video gives a fascinating insight into the flight testing process for new aircraft, with the Airbus team just as focused as if this had involved a 400-seat airliner.

Transcend intends its Vy 400 family of aircraft to be used for both VIP on-demand transportation and scheduled regional service connecting city pairs.