In 2022, Lilium will build the first production-conforming prototype of its seven-seat Lilium Jet for which it is seeking concurrent type certification by EASA and the FAA. The all-electric aircraft will be used for what the company calls "regional shuttle services" on flights of up to around 155 miles in markets such as Florida.

British Airways is among a group of investors supporting a new $24.3 million funding round for hydrogen propulsion pioneer ZeroAvia, which has now raised almost $74 million. The airline has not indicated whether it intends to operate the 50- and 100-seat airliners that ZeroAvia will fit with hydrogen-electric powertrains but says the investment is part of its aim of supporting net-zero carbon emissions on short-haul services by 2050.

Sweden-based Heart Aerospace now has letters of intent from a dozen airlines that have provisionally committed to purchasing more than 300 of the company's ES-19 all-electric aircraft. This year, it expects to announce new investment in the project and also some prominent suppliers as partners.

The Textron group, which includes both the Cessna general aviation manufacturer and helicopter maker Bell, has so far been quiet about its ambitions in the electric aviation market. Its plans already include the Bell Nexus eVTOL aircraft but could extend to electric-powered versions of fixed-wing aircraft.

The International Business Aviation Council's advanced air mobility working group is expanding its established International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations audit and certification process to cover new unmanned and manned aircraft. The initiative is progressing as the International Civil Aviation Organization prepares to amend the Chicago Convention to include these nascent aviation sectors.

With backing from Eurocontrol's Single European Sky ATM Research program, the TindAIR project will demonstrate how a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft can be integrated into urban and suburban airspace. The project will use multiple aircraft to evaluate a variety of applications, including passenger transportation and emergency medical support. It has yet to announce which aircraft will participate and may still be seeking further partners from among eVTOL aircraft developers.

The next phase of Cora flight testing in New Zealand will extend Wisk's work with the government to prepare for autonomous air taxi operations but will not involve passengers at this stage. Wisk has also enlisted the support of fellow Boeing group company Insitu Pacific, which is a specialist in unmanned aerial systems.

A newly released video from Embraer’s Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions division shows development progressing on the Brazilian group’s planned eVTOL aircraft. The film shows a cabin mockup being assembled and evaluated, as well as test flights in a simulator and work on what appears to be a ground-based testbed and sub-scale proof-of-concept models (including flight trials from around 35 seconds into the video). Company CEO Andre Stein told FutureFlight that the work so far has been aimed at defining the optimum configuration for the aircraft. “We want to make sure that we have the right building blocks,” he explained. “You don’t want to fall in love with one configuration right away and go straight to the final prototype.”

Lilium is one of the better-funded eVTOL start-up companies in Europe.