Personal eVTOL aircraft developer Air this week unveiled plans for a new uncrewed version of its vehicle to be used for cargo deliveries and other logistics roles. Announcing the new model on June 18, the company said it has already taken orders for the Air One Cargo and has delivered the first example to a customer.  

Saudi Arabian officials gave further encouragement to eVTOL aircraft manufacturers by signaling their intention to fast-track commercial air taxi operations. According to reports in the government-controlled Saudi Press Agency, Saleh Al-Jasser, the country’s Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), intends to approve eVTOL aircraft to be used to carry pilgrims between holy sites.

For decades, the team at TE Connectivity (TE) has been helping design safe and efficient electrical power management systems for everything from military planes to moon landers. Now TE is supporting a new frontier: the emerging Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) industry.

Vertical Aerospace has almost completed manufacturing of its second VX4 eVTOL prototype and expects to start test flights in the next few weeks. The UK company is still determining whether it will be able to display the four-passenger aircraft at the Farnborough Airshow in late July, but its higher priority remains accelerating progress towards type certification and entry into service targeted for 2026.

Early use cases for eVTOL aircraft should be based on business-to-business models for supporting logistics across a range of between just 20 and 60 kilometers (up to 84 nm), according to a new guide published by the Bristow Group. David Stepanek, Bristow’s executive vice president and chief transformation officer, said this approach would prove to be more viable than widely-publicized plans for air taxi services.

Houston is stepping up its plans to be an early base for autonomous eVTOL air taxi services, with officials representing the most populous city in Texas this week signing a memorandum of understanding with aircraft developer Wisk Aero. The partnership announced on June 17 covers the development of vertiports at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport, and Ellington Airport.

Japanese eVTOL aircraft developer SkyDrive has launched efforts to offer its SD-05 three-seat vehicle in the U.S. market, having recently started the FAA certification process. On June 17, the company reported that the U.S. aviation safety agency accepted its application for a type certificate on April 29 in a process initiated through Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB).

Reducing the complexity of the task of flying an aircraft, even to the extent of rendering it a fully autonomous process, has long been a Holy Grail in the aviation industry striving for both greater safety and efficiency. Skyryse has been developing its SkyOS technology since 2017, and the California-based company recently unveiled the Skyryse One aircraft to demonstrate this platform. Its new video release, Skyryse makes its case for reducing flight complexity.