Work for Germany's new Air Mobility Initiative is largely centered on the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt and is being conducted by a large team of partners led by Airbus, which is developing a four-passenger eVTOL aircraft called CityAIrbus NextGen. Federal and state governments are backing the project, which is part of Airbus's wider efforts to develop ecosystems for eVTOL air services.

As it prepares for closing a business combination with Zanite and a New York Stock Exchange listing on May 9, Eve Urban Air Mobility reported an increase in provisional sales commitments for its planned four-passenger eVTOL aircraft to 1,825 from 19 customers. The subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer also confirmed that it plans to publish an air taxi concept of operations for Rio de Janeiro.

United Airlines, an investor and launch customer for eVTOL aircraft developer Archer Aviation, is forming a joint advisory committee with the start-up to consider maintenance and operations plans. The carrier intends to use Archer's four-passenger aircraft to carry its customers to and from hub airports.

Companies like Aviation Safety Resources and Ballistic Recovery Systems are convinced that their whole-aircraft parachutes can be a critical last resort to ensure a safe landing in the event of major system failures. But developers of eVTOL aircraft insist they are building in more than adequate safety redundancy and that parachutes bring their own problems.

LCI is one of several aircraft leasing groups planning to invest in new eVTOL vehicles like the five-passenger Alia 250 being developed by Beta Technologies. The Ireland-based group has now placed deposit-backed orders for an initial 50 units and has options for another 75.

For flight testing as part of NASA's Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration program, a 50-seat Dash 7 airliner operated by Air Tindi in Canada's remote Northwestern Territories will be converted to a hybrid-electric propulsion system using MagniX's Magni650 motors in combination with its Pratt & Whitney PT6 engines.

Diamond Aircraft aims to certify the electrically-powered version of the DA40 light aircraft by the end of 2023. The company has selected Safran Electrical & Power to provide the electric motor system for what it will designate as the eDA40.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, military and humanitarian logistics planners have been wrestling with how to get supplies into the war zone. It has been tempting to imagine the role that some of the new autonomous VTOL aircraft now in development could play in such scenarios. In this FutureFlight video we look at what Kaman has in mind for its new Kargo UAV, and also other autonomous aircraft now in the works with innovators including Elroy Air, MightyFly, Pipistrel, and Kitty Hawk.

The eMagic One is a single-seat personal eVTOL vehicle, and a two-seater version is also planned by German start-up eMagic Aircraft.