Eve Air Mobility is teaming with infrastructure specialists in Brazil to prepare the groundwork for supporting eVTOL aircraft operations in the South American country. On February 4, the Embraer offshoot, which is developing a four-passenger eVTOL model, signed an agreement with PRS Aeroportos and VertiMob Infrastructure to jointly participate in a 24-month sandbox exercise initiated by Brazilian civil aviation regulator ANAC.

PRS Aeroportos is a joint venture between Pax Aeroportos, which runs Campo de Marte Airport in São Paulo, and Italian vertiport developer Urban V. VertiMob Infrastructure is a Brazilian start-up initially focused on developing vertiports in the most populous parts of São Paulo state and Rio de Janeiro, and with longer-term plans to establish facilities across the country.

The sandbox exercise will involve work intended to develop regulations covering operational aspects including capacity limits for vertiports, firefighting provision, aircraft noise requirements, and access control measures. It will not involve flight trials, but the partners will address arrangements for aircraft landing and takeoff procedures, final approach and departure trajectories, and maintenance provision.

Eve is aiming to bring its aircraft into commercial service following type certification in 2026 and has reported provisional sales agreements for at least 2,900 units for 30 operators in 12 countries. The manufacturer has not yet said where operations might begin in Brazil, but it is working with local customers including rotorcraft operators Helisul and Omni group subsidiary Revo.

In November 2024, Eve, Revo, and Omni Helicopters International concluded an urban air traffic simulation in São Paulo. This exercise combined flights with Revo’s helicopters and Eve’s Vector urban air traffic management platform, which simulated how eVTOL flights could be safely managed in a congested city where rotorcraft use is already intensive.

Previous exercises conducted in locations including Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, and the London area have resulted in Eve and its partners producing concepts of operations for eVTOL air taxi services. Local partners have included Flexjet division Halo, Blade Air Mobility, and Helisul.

Meanwhile, Eve’s engineering team is preparing to step up ground tests with the eVTOL technology demonstrator it rolled out in Brazil last July. It recently conducted a ground run with the pusher propeller developed to boost range during cruise flight and is aiming to start test flights by the end of June.