Eviation continues to rake in orders for its all-electric Alice commuter airplane—despite the fact that the company hasn’t flown a prototype or rolled out a new aircraft in more than two years. Despite there being few signs of tangible progress since the historic first flight of the Alice, the U.S. company's CEO Andre Stein told AIN it remains on track to bring the nine-passenger Alice into commercial service by the end of the decade. 

Lilium is expected to miss out on €100 million ($109 million) in loan guarantees from German federal and state governments. Following reports last week in Der Spiegel newspaper that the German parliament’s budget committee has blocked a €50 million loan that would have released a previously agreed upon loan for the same amount from the state of Bavaria Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe issued a statement addressing what he said were “misunderstandings” about the funding.

Brazil’s national development bank, BNDES, has agreed to an $88 million loan for Eve Air Mobility to support work on the company’s eVTOL aircraft production line at Taubaté in São Paulo state. The funding, announced on October 15, follows an earlier $92.5 million line of credit approved by the government-backed bank in 2022 to support development of the four-passenger vehicle that the Embraer offshoot is looking to bring to market in 2026.

In the quest for more sustainable aircraft propulsion systems, hydrogen-burning internal combustion engines have garnered interest from OEMs such as Airbus and Rolls-Royce because hydrogen combustion does not produce planet-warming carbon emissions. However, it is not totally emissions-free. Much like their fossil fuel-guzzling counterparts, hydrogen combustion engines produce nitrogen oxides that pollute the air and contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, a major component of smog that damages human health.

Airservices Australia has started preparing for no-pilot-on-board air taxi services with eVTOL aircraft developer Wisk Aero. Under a memorandum of understanding announced on October 15, the government-backed air traffic management agency agreed to support the Boeing-owned company’s plans to test its four-passenger, autonomous vehicle ahead of planned commercial operations in Australia.

The UK’s new Labour government will unveil its first budget on October 30, with its critical challenge being how to meet its pledges to reinvest in the country’s depleted public services and infrastructure while not breaching commitments made in the buildup to the July 4 general election. Transportation is just one among many key sectors vying for attention and support, with long-promised improvements to rail connections, especially in the north of England, having languished for years.

The UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute has honored half a dozen companies and projects for their contributions to technology and innovation. The awards, which were handed out at the ATI conference last week, specifically highlighted contributions to achieving net-zero carbon in aviation, as well as teamwork and collaboration.

The U.S. Marines want to assess how Elroy Air's hybrid-electric Chaparral VTOL aircraft could be pressed into military service, bring something to the table that current aircraft can't deliver as well. This was why the company took its demonstrator model to the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona to be put through its paces in a series of flight trials that also involved the rival Kaman Kargo UAV.