Natilus has revealed the interior design for its Horizon blended-wing-body airliner, a 200-seat aircraft that the company says could compete with the popular Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320neo in the 2030s. With about the same wingspan as a 737 or A321, the Horizon aircraft boasts 40% more room inside the cabin. Natilus takes advantage of this extra space by improving passenger comfort with larger seats and double-wide armrests. Airlines can also customize their cabins with unique premium features, including video conference pods for business travelers and “deluxe” club-style seating for families.

Helitour and charter company FlyNYON has announced a “committed purchase order” for up to five Beta Technologies’ Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft. The New Jersey-based operator intends to use the five-passenger vehicles for “photo tourism” and charter flights around New York City. Beta’s eVTOL aircraft will join FlyNYON’s existing fleet of seven Bell 206L3 and L4 turbine helicopters, including some open-door models. Taking off daily from New Jersey’s Kearny heliport (65NJ), about five miles from Manhattan, these helicopters carry between three and six passengers and fly around New York City for 15 to 40 minutes.

The U.S. Army is going to explore the potential benefits of hybrid-electric propulsion under the scope of a $1.9 million Small Business Innovation Research contract it awarded to Electra Aero on July 1. Under the agreement, the company will conduct a series of “technology maturation and risk reduction” activities aimed at understanding the mission capabilities that aircraft like its in-development EL9 model could deliver in terms of range and fuel use.

Eve Air Mobility has signed letters of intent covering potential sales of 50 more of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft that could be operated in Costa Rica. On June 30, the Embraer subsidiary announced agreements with Aerosolutions and Bluenest by Globalvia that build on the sales momentum it achieved at the Paris Air Show in June, where it sealed deals with prospective air taxi operators Revo and Future Flight Global.

EHang plans to establish an urban air mobility demonstration area at the Jingyue Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone in Changchun, the capital of northeast China’s Jilin Province, and has received a pre-order for 41 of its two-seat EH216-S pilotless eVTOL aircraft from Jilin Aerospace Industry Development Investment Co. The management committee for the Jingyue Hi-tech Zone recently signed an agreement with EHang in which the two parties pledged to “jointly develop a provincial-level demonstration zone for low-altitude economic development, integrating industrial development, technological innovation, and real-world application scenarios.”

Japanese eVTOL developer SkyDrive has selected Stirling Dynamics to provide the pilot control stick for its three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft. Stirling Dynamics is a UK-based engineering firm owned by global technology consultancy Expleo Group. The company has more than 35 years of experience developing systems for various aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin F-35, Airbus and Boeing airliners, Bombardier’s C-Series and Global 7000/8000 business jets, and Leonardo’s helicopters.

The U.S. Air Force has evaluated MightyFly’s Cento cargo drone for various logistics roles under an SBIR Phase II contract as part of the Afwerx research and development program. On June 27, the company reported that it conducted a live flight demonstration with the autonomously operated aircraft on May 8 at New Jerusalem Airport in California.

Thales is teaming up with Skydweller to equip the latter’s medium-altitude pseudo-satellite (MAPS), a large solar-powered drone, with a radar surveillance system designed for autonomous maritime patrol operations. The Skydweller MAPS aircraft will feature Thales’ Airmaster S “smart” radar system, which combines artificial intelligence software with an active electronically scanned array X-band radar. According to Thales, the AI capabilities have already been successfully demonstrated on Dassault Aviation ATL2 long-range maritime patrol aircraft operated by the French Navy.