The FAA's release of its special federal aviation regulation for Integration of "Powered Lift: Pilot Certification and Operations" coincided with the opening session of the annual NBAA-BACE business aviation trade show on October 22. FAA administrator Michael Whitaker broke the news to a packed audience. "It's here today, it is now a final rule" Whitaker announced.

Natilus has unveiled its planned Horizon blend-wing-body airliner, promising a 50% reduction in emissions and 30% less fuel burn than current aircraft. According to the California-based start-up, the planned Horizon model will carry 200 passengers on popular intercontinental routes such as Los Angeles to Boston and transatlantic sectors such as New York to London.

Lilium’s board of directors is urgently reassessing funding options after the eVTOL aircraft developer was denied a €50 million ($54 million) loan guarantee from the German federal government. The loan was blocked by the budget committee of the German parliament in a meeting held in Berlin on October 17.

Merlin plans to integrate its autonomous flight technology with Honeywell’s Anthem avionics suite based on a memorandum of understanding signed by the companies last week. The agreement calls for the artificial intelligence-driven Merlin Pilot system to be made available to a variety of military and civil aircraft in conjunction with the Anthem flight deck.

As Airbus presses ahead with plans to bring a hydrogen-powered commercial airliner into service by 2035, the European airframer is eyeing superconductors as a potential enabling technology for the high-power, zero-emissions aircraft. 

Among the many challenges that developers of electric airplanes and eVTOL air taxis face in bringing their aircraft to market, battery technology is perhaps the most widely cited concern. Electric aircraft have unique power and energy requirements, and just about everybody in the industry agrees that the batteries available today are less than ideal for aviation applications.

Blade Air Mobility and eVTOL aircraft developer Supernal have started exploring how commercial advanced air mobility services could be launched. Through a partnership announced in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the companies said they will study various early use cases, gathering data that will shape how the Hyundai subsidiary completes development of the four-passenger aircraft it aims to bring to market in 2028.

Atlantic Aviation has extended its agreement with the New York City Economic Development Corporation on the management of the East 34th Street Heliport in Midtown Manhattan. The deal puts the facility on the East River waterfront under Atlantic’s control for the next five years.