The design for the CityAirbus NewGen eVTOL aircraft has a fixed wing but with no moving surfaces or tilting parts. It will carry four passengers on flights of up to around 50 miles when it enters service in 2025, the European aerospace group announced on September 21 at its sustainability summit in Toulouse, France.

Vertical Aerospace now appears to have the largest order book in the eVTOL sector, with purchase agreements covering 1,350 units and customers on four continents for its VA-X4 model. Prospective operators include two major airlines, a leasing group, a helicopter company, and now Japanese trading and investment conglomerate Marubeni, which Vertical believes will be able to lay the groundwork for advanced air mobility services in the country.

Volocopter's VoloCity, VoloDrone, and VoloConnect eVTOL aircraft will be manufactured at a new plant in Chengdu, China, operated by the German company's new joint venture with automotive group Geely. The joint venture has agreed to buy up to 150 of the aircraft to launch commercial operations in the country, based on an agreement signed this week that raises questions about Geely’s separate plans to develop the TF-2 eVTOL model.

France-based flight booking platform Helipass will offer transportation in Eve's four-passenger eVTOL aircraft from 2026, using its network of some 120 helicopters operators based in 600 locations across Europe. The deal announced on September 20 appears similar to alliances the Embraer subsidiary has reached with other charter flight retailers.”

Several private equity and venture capital groups have supported a €10 million funding round for Ascendance Flight Technologies, which is aiming to bring a four-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft called Atea to market in 2025. The Atea's design is now being matured through work on scaled prototypes, and the France-based start-up intends to produce one or more technology demonstrators before flying a full-scale prototype in 2024.

Urban-Air Port says that its compact modular hubs require much less space than traditional heliports and can support a wide variety of electric vehicles, including eVTOL aircraft. Its alliance with Hyundai calls for the development of 65 of the facilities aross the U.S., Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, starting with a test site at Coventry in the UK.

The Shenzhen-based helicopter operator is partnering with EHang to conduct pilot flight trials to demonstrate the viability of eVTOL aircraft operating in the same low-altitude airspace as helicopters in China’s heavily populated Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In a frenzy that recalls the California gold rush, multiple eVTOL aircraft developers are racing to get their designs certified and ready to start earning a return on the massive investments involved in these projects. But aviation regulators aren't in a rush; their job is to ensure that the new aircraft is at least as safe as existing modes of air transportation. In this video, FutureFlight interviewed independent expert Sergio Cecutta of SMG Consulting to find out what it will take to complete type certification when there is so much new technology to be assessed.

Following several years of work with its Vahana and CityAirbus technology demonstrators, Airbus in September 2021 confirmed it will bring the CityAirbus NextGen aircraft to market in 2025.