Bye Aerospace has begun building the first production prototype of its two-seat eFlyer 2 electric trainer airplane. More than three years since the Colorado-based aircraft developer announced that series production had commenced, it is “taking the composite molds and now fabricating the actual aircraft parts,” Bye Aerospace chief financial officer James Dunn told AIN. 

With electric trainer airplanes already in service and the first eVTOL models on the brink of certification, lithium-ion batteries have staked their claim on yet another electrifying industry. Batteries available today are sufficient for small aircraft operating short flights, but scaling the technology to larger, longer-range aircraft will require a breakthrough in battery technology.

Joby Aviation has issued the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) a letter of intent to apply for an air operator certificate, marking its first step toward becoming a certified commercial air taxi operator in the Middle East. Company founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt presented the letter of intent to GCAA director general Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi this week during the ICAO Advanced Air Mobility Summit in Montreal, Canada. 

European budget airline EasyJet has teamed up with California-based JetZero to develop blended-wing-body commercial airliners that could potentially run on hydrogen power. According to JetZero, the aerodynamic design will deliver up to a 50% reduction in fuel burn and greenhouse gas emissions compared with the traditional tube-shaped airliners in service today. It intends to offer the 250-passenger aircraft as a replacement for Boeing’s 757 and 767 models and the Airbus A330.

Korean aircraft leasing group Solyu has committed to adding 30 of Jekta’s PHA-ZE 100 electric amphibious aircraft. Jekta announced the agreement on September 4 and said it is the Swiss start-up’s first sale logged with a leasing company; it also takes the total value of provisional orders to more than $10 billion.

UK regional airline Loganair has launched a partnership with hybrid-electric aircraft developer Heart Aerospace to advance ways to reduce carbon emissions from short-haul flights. The agreement announced on September 4 is the latest green initiative by the Scotland-based carrier, which earlier this year forged partnerships with Cranfield Aerospace Solutions around its planned hydrogen-powered version of the Britten-Norman Islander aircraft.

NASA is using a specially developed camera pod packed with sensors to support the development of computer vision technology for autonomous flight. The agency’s Airborne Instrumentation for Real-world Video of Urban Environments (AIRVUE) pod has been mounted on a helicopter and is in service for flight testing by researchers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.