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Optimism in the Air pilot, the wingless, fully autonomous Ehang
The AAM industry would move past teething troubles and expe- EH216-S will carry two passengers at low
altitude on short- and medium-haul routes.
rience significant progress from a technological and regulatory Slower than most of the other eVTOLs that are
point of view by 2033, according to the Orbit Management expected to enter service, the aircraft cruises
Services survey. While the outlook is optimistic for the entire at around 62 mph (54 knots) and can hit a top
AAM industry over the 10-year period, the respondents believe speed of 80 mph (69.5 knots).
that logistic and enterprise applications will do better than the
passenger applications sector. Eighty-three per cent of experts Volocopter, which flew its fixed-wing passen-
believed that in 10 years, logistics and enterprise applications ger aircraft VoloConnect for the first time in
would be recognized as valuable assets, revolutionizing the ser- June 2022, announced at the Paris Air Show
vice landscape across various industries. Interestingly, the survey earlier this year that it would launch its eVTOL
found that stakeholders dealing with passenger AAM applications services in time for the Paris 2024 Olympic
are most optimistic about the industry development across all and Paralympic Games. The company is plan-
segments, both in the short and long term. ning to fly the VoloCity air taxi, an eVTOL with
two seats (a pilot and a passenger), a 35km
There are two significant tailwinds for the AAM sector: the avia- range and speeds of up to 110km/h. American
tion industry’s focus on sustainability and the need all over the eVTOL manufacturer Archer Aviation, which
world for faster modes of intracity transportation of people and hopes to start commercialization by 2025, has
cargo. Addressing safety concerns and ensuring equity in acces- set itself a goal of getting its pilot-plus-four-
sibility of these new modes of transport are essential for societal passenger aircraft, ‘Midnight,’ certified by the
buy-in and key to the growth of the sector, the report says. end of 2024. The company plans to make 250
aircraft in 2025 and to ramp up production to
Hectic Activity 500 in 2026 and 650 in 2027.
The report comes at a time when several air taxi companies are in Embraer subsidiary Eve Air Mobility, which
the final stretch of preparations for certification and commercial submitted the basis for type certification to
operations. China’s EHang, which looks set to obtain the world’s Brazilian aviation safety regulator ANAC in
first eVTOL type certification, announced in August that it had March this year, plans to build its full-scale
completed all planned tests and flights of its EH216-S two-seater prototype before the end of the year and to
in the last phase of demonstrating compliance of its technology. start a flight test campaign in 2024. The com-
The Guangzhou-based eVTOL manufacturer expects to enter pany’s first eVTOL production facility will be
service as early as this year or 2024, starting with China and in the city of Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil. The
Japan. Unlike Eve Urban Mobiity, Archer Aviation and Lilium that company hopes to earn certification and start
are building larger, winged models to be flown by an onboard commercial operations in 2026.

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