The FAA has issued its final airworthiness criteria for Archer Aviation’s four-passenger Midnight eVTOL air taxi. Archer is now the second eVTOL manufacturer to clear this regulatory hurdle with the FAA, which published its final airworthiness criteria for Joby Aviation’s five-seat JAS4-1 air taxi on April 8. The special class airworthiness criteria for Archer’s Midnight were formally published in the federal register on May 24.

Lilium and its partners aim to launch a network of eVTOL air services connecting communities across the French Riviera. Starting in 2026, flights in the four- to six-passenger Lilium Jet are expected to operate between Monaco, Nice, Sophia Antipolis, Cannes, Saint Tropez, Aix-en-Provence, and Marseille.

Electra’s hybrid-electric technology demonstrator aircraft has established the new design’s short takeoff and landing (STOL) credentials in test flights conducted in April and earlier this month. The two-seat EL-2 Goldfinch aircraft took off in less than 170 feet and landed with a ground roll of less than 114 feet. The performance target for the aircraft is to be able to operate from spaces shorter than 300 feet.

Developers of eVTOL aircraft await the joint EASA/FAA International Aviation Safety conference next month that they hope will pave the way to closer regulatory alignment over type certification processes on both sides of the Atlantic. The gathering from June 11 to 13—which will include EASA’s newly appointed executive director Florian Guillermet and the FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker—will hear from companies such as Archer Aviation, which is pushing hard to complete certification for its four-passenger Midnight vehicle.

Helicopter flight simulator specialist Loft Dynamics is moving into the eVTOL aircraft training sector with plans to develop equipment for Dufour Aerospace’s hybrid-electric Aero3 tilt-wing model. The system Loft announced on May 24 will use the company’s virtual reality technology and could become available in early 2025, at which point it can help Dufour complete the development of the aircraft.

Aurora Flight Sciences has completed the conceptual design review for a high-speed, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (HSVTOL) aircraft it is developing for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Boeing subsidiary received fresh funding from DARPA to proceed with the next phase of development—the preliminary design review, which it expects to complete in approximately 12 months.

Hydroplane is demonstrating this week at EBACE 2024 how it has integrated a hydrogen fuel cell powerplant to provide both primary and auxiliary power for aircraft. The Los Angeles-based startup is exhibiting as part of the show's Innovation Pavilion, which includes an array of advanced air mobility pioneers.

VoltAero unveiled a mockup of the first member of its planned family of Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft on Tuesday morning at the EBACE business aviation show. The company also flew its technology demonstrator aircraft to the event in Geneva from its headquarters in western France, running the propulsion system on biofuels made from wine.