The agreement for LCI to buy up to 40 of the hybrid-electric Chaparral eVTOL vehicles takes Elroy Air's order book to 900 aircraft with a reported combined value of $2 billion. The leasing group is joining a list of prospective customers for the aircraft that already includes helicopter operator Bristow and delivery giant FedEx.

Destinus believes that its hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft will transform both the environmental footprint of air transport and its value proposition by offering four-hour flights between Europe and Australia. The company is prioritizing a passenger-carrying version of the design, which it intends to operate with highly automated flight controls and pilots on board.

Archer Aviation has struck a new deal with the automotive manufacturer Stellantis, which is already a partner and investor, for the production of its flagship eVTOL air taxi. Stellantis, which formed in 2021 from the merger between carmakers Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, will mass produce the Midnight aircraft at Archer’s new manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia.

Ryse Aero Technologies, a Cincinnati-based company developing a personal eVTOL for agricultural applications, just became the first eVTOL maker to fly its aircraft at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Horizon Aircraft says it has successfully conducted the first hover flight tests of a half-scale Cavorite X5 eVTOL prototype. The Canadian start-up is developing a fixed-wing eVTOL aircraft with a highly efficient, hybrid-electric power system that can seat four passengers plus one pilot.

Florida is set to be one of the first markets for eVTOL air services, and aircraft developer Lilium is partnered there with global infrastructure group Ferrovial in laying plans for a network of vertiports across the state. Ferrovial says these will be purpose-built facilities in key locations as close as possible to where people want to begin and end journeys and will be shared by multiple eVTOL aircraft operators to spread costs.

Following consultation with stakeholders across the southwest UK county, Open Skies Cornwall will launch a series of drone flight trials in locations such as the new Falmouth Harbour Drone Testbed Environment and the adjoining Lizard test range. The project involves building a network connecting drone operators and landowners based on the Drone Delivery Register being developed by DronePrep and using vehicles provided by Skyports.

Airbus’s Acubed innovation center is using its USim simulation tool to prepare the way for commercially operated drones and eVTOL aircraft to make safe and efficient use of controlled airspace alongside existing air traffic. This video shows how the USim platform—which has been in development since 2020 with the support of more than 100 stakeholders including NASA, the FAA, EASA, and Eurocontrol—will now be made available to companies and other organizations working on all aspects of advanced air mobility.

Eve Urban Air Mobility is developing a four-passenger eVTOL aircraft that it intends to bring to market in 2026. Brazilian aerospace group Embraer continued to be the company's majority shareholder following its merger with Zanite Acquisition and New York Stock Exchange listing in May 2022.