Airline start-up UrbanLink has selected Elfly’s Noemi electric amphibious aircraft as the latest planned addition to its fleet. On January 19, the Florida-based start-up signed a memorandum of understanding covering what it called “soft orders” for 10 of the seaplanes that the Norwegian manufacturer aims to bring to market in 2030, plus options for another 10.

JetZero has raised another $175 million for development of its Z4 blended-wing-body airliner, bringing total funding to more than $1 billion. Global investment firm B Capital led the recent Series B financing round. Other contributors include United Airlines Ventures, Northrop Grumman, 3M Ventures, Trucks VC, and RTX Ventures. United Airlines, a longtime JetZero investor, has already agreed to purchase up to 200 Z4 airliners, which seat up to 250 passengers and can fly up to 5,000 nm. 

Leonardo has made the first flight of what it described as the UK’s “first autonomous full-size helicopter,” the “Proteus” technology demonstrator. The milestone was reported on January 16 by the Royal Navy, which is working with the Italy-based aerospace and defense group on the project.

Beyond Aero completed the first wind tunnel tests of its BYA-1 hydrogen-electric business jet as it approaches the end of the program's preliminary design review, it reported on January 19. According to the French start-up, tests with a one-eighth-scale model were conducted at the German-Dutch Wind Tunnels Low-Speed Facility at Marknesse in the Netherlands over five weeks in the fourth quarter.

Eve Air Mobility has secured up to $15 million in U.S. government-backed financing to support its eVTOL program, the company announced on January 15. According to Eve, the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Private Export Funding Corporation agreed to provide financing for its U.S.-based suppliers. The guaranteed loan amount, which Eve said “can reach up to $15 million,” will primarily fund parts and engineering services from its battery supplier, BAE Systems.

Pilot fatigue is a long-standing safety concern, prompting innovation into how flight deck workload can be managed and how technology could provide safeguards. A 2013 study by the British Airline Pilots Association found that up to 56% of pilots have fallen asleep while on duty and a further 29% of respondents admitted to having woken up to discover that their co-pilot was also asleep.

British drone manufacturer Windracers has augmented the range of its dual-use heavy-lift Ultra Mk2 product, which will soon be configured to fly up to 2,000 kilometers (1,080 nm) with a 200 kilogram (440 pounds) payload. The uncrewed aircraft is already capable of carrying in excess of 100 kilograms over 2,000 kilometer distance, and the company said the incremental payload upgrade—set to become available in the coming months—expands both civil and defense use cases.