China’s Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co. has agreed to acquire German eVTOL aircraft manufacturer Volocopter, which is currently involved in an insolvency process. In a stock exchange statement reported on March 10 by China Evtol News, the automotive group said that its German subsidiary Heptus 591 GmbH has signed an asset purchase agreement with Volocopter’s court appointed administrator Tobias Wahl covering the acquisition of assets, and intellectual property rights, as well as assuming contract rights and obligations.

Electric propulsion pioneer MagniX is developing a new family of motors specifically designed for new and existing helicopters. This week, the U.S. company is going public with its response to demand for faster rotor speed motors with up to around 6,000 rpm, which is more than double that of the 1,900- to 2,500 rpm motors it has in development.

Delta Air Lines is teaming up with JetZero to introduce a new type of commercial airliner featuring a blended-wing-body airframe that’s up to 50% more fuel efficient than the tube-and-wing airplanes flying today. 

Airbus Helicopters’ PioneerLab team is set to make its first hybrid-electric powered flight in 2027. During a media briefing on March 3 at its Donauwörth facility in Germany, the company announced the target date and said the project is on track to confirm a preliminary design later this year.

Korean charter operator Moviation has agreed to buy 20 of the 30-seat S-1 eVTOL aircraft under development by UK start-up Sora Aviation. The companies announced the pre-order agreement on March 10 and did not disclose the projected price for the aircraft, which is expected to be certified and ready to enter service in 2031.

Indian start-up ePlane has said it will have the first full-scale prototype of its e200X eVTOL aircraft ready to start flight testing around the middle of 2025, with another example to follow by year-end, and a third in 2026. The Chennai-based company has spent the past seven months conducting wind tunnel tests with a quarter-scale model as it works towards a highly ambitious target for type certification by the end of 2026.

Vertical Aerospace’s third VX4 eVTOL prototype is now being assembled at GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre in the UK. This aircraft is expected to join the second prototype in piloted flight testing later this year as part of the Flightpath 2030 strategy it hopes will lead to type certification for the four-passenger model in 2028.

The vast majority of airline passengers (98%) would consider using an eVTOL air taxi service as part of their journey, according to a survey conducted by Honeywell. Canvassing 1,000 U.S. adult travelers, the aerospace technology group also found that 79% of them would travel more often if they could use one of the new electric aircraft to get to and from airports.