Beta Technologies has rolled out the second Alia CX300 electric aircraft from its scaled manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vermont, the company announced on March 4. Later this year, Beta will ship that aircraft off to Norway for a series of flight demonstrations to be conducted by helicopter operator Bristow Norway, a subsidiary of its partner and customer Bristow Group.

German eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter this week moved into a new phase of insolvency proceedings, giving a court-appointed administrator another three months to secure its future. On March 1, almost all of the company’s 500 staff were placed on paid gardening leave to comply with the requirements of Germany’s insolvency laws.

Financial results announced last week by Archer and Joby reaffirmed the perception that the U.S. companies have started 2025 as clear front-runners among eVTOL aircraft developers. While neither company can yet tell investors when profitability will be achieved, both reported healthy funding levels as they step up work to achieve type certification and service entry for their four-passenger vehicles.

Helicopter operator Abu Dhabi Aviation will be the launch customer for Archer Aviation’s four-passenger Midnight eVTOL in the UAE, where the U.S.-based manufacturer aims to begin delivering aircraft this year under its new “Launch Edition” commercialization program. Archer announced the partnership on February 27 ahead of releasing its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results. The partners formalized their agreement by signing a memorandum of understanding during a ceremony at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office last week, but did not specify how many aircraft it covers. They said that "a passenger flight" could be conducted before year-end.

The threat of the U.S. tariffs on aircraft and aerospace products, and the inevitable retaliation by nations targeted by the Trump administration, has highlighted how exposed the industry is to extremely complex and rapidly changing import/export requirements. The supply chain is already burdened by the need to be able to prove compliance with multiple restrictions on goods moving to and from sanctioned states, with transparency hard to maintain given complexities around hardware sourced from multiple suppliers around the world and the need to move items across borders multiple times in the lifetime of a product.

With eVTOLs poised to enter service in the next 18 to 24 months, FBO providers Atlantic Aviation and Signature Aviation are actively working to stand up vertiport infrastructure for advanced air mobility services, company officials said on February 26 at the NBAA regional forum in Orlando, Florida. Both companies are seeking to build city-center vertiports while also adapting their FBOs to handle electric aircraft.

Dubai-based helicopter charter operator AeroGulf Services is planning to operate flights from the Palm Jumeirah resort, having signed a memorandum of understanding this week to buy up to 50 of SkyDrive’s three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft. The partners announced the agreement on February 28, saying they will work together on a sightseeing business model for the electric aircraft, which is expected to have a range of up to around 16 nm with a pilot and two passengers on board.