In a major milestone for the eVTOL industry, the FAA has published its final airworthiness criteria for Joby Aviation’s five-seat JAS4-1 air taxi in the federal register. This marks the first time the FAA has settled on the airworthiness criteria for any passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft, providing a framework that other eVTOL aircraft developers can leverage as they seek type certification for similar vehicles.

Following Joby's recent announcement of an exclusive agreement to operate air taxi services within Dubai, rival Archer is staking its own claim to the UAE market through an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based business aviation services group Falcon. The partners aim to launch services in 2025 using existing heliports at the Atlantis resort in Dubai's The Palm development and the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi's Corniche district.

Although Southeast Asia’s nascent advanced air mobility industry is picking up steam, it’s mostly Western eVTOL developers that have so far announced plans to launch and operate commercial air taxi services in the region. Now an Indonesian company is throwing its hat in the ring with the introduction of what could be the country’s first indigenous eVTOL aircraft certified for commercial passenger transportation. 

Airbus is stepping up ground testing of propulsion systems, flight controls, and avionics as it prepares to start flight testing the four-seat eVTOL aircraft by the end of 2024. On Thursday, it opened its new advanced air mobility development center in Donauwörth, Germany.

SkyDrive has begun building the first prototypes of its three-seat SD-05 eVTOL air taxi. Sky Works, a joint venture between SkyDrive and Suzuki Motor Corporation, is manufacturing the vehicle at a Suzuki factory in Iwata, Japan. SkyDrive will begin flight testing prototypes in the next year and intends to conduct public flight demonstrations at the Osaka World Expo in 2025.

Having solved the challenge of how to package and install its hydrogen propulsion system, Cranfield Aerospace says it will start assembling the technology demonstrator it will use for ground and flight testing for its planned hydrogen-powered regional airliner.

Signature Aviation is teaming up with Beta Technologies to bring electric aircraft chargers to its FBOs across the U.S. East Coast. The business aviation services group inaugurated its first Beta charging station on Thursday at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire. 

French start-up Beyond Aero is working on plans for a hydrogen-powered business jet. In February it started test flights with a subscale version of its gaseous hydrogen propulsion system in a light aircraft it has dubbed Blériot in honor of one of France's greatest aviators. The 85-kilowatt powertrain, which also includes batteries, is intended to prove the viability of the technology before Beyond Aero scales up its design. The BYA-I aircraft is expected to be able to carry four people up to around 800 nautical miles.