If all goes to plan, 2025 will be the year that the aviation industry takes a huge leap forward into uncharted skies and launches the first commercial eVTOL flights. Years of dedication, sleepless nights and dreams of future flight, aircraft manufacturers will capture the attention of the world with silent aircraft featuring novel aircraft configurations that perform inter and intra-city operations those that have been historically inaccessible to the public.
In which city this seismic event will happen is still not certain, as no one yet can be sure which airline or aviation disrupter will reach the finish line first. A strong contender is undoubtedly the collaboration between United Airlines and eVTOL developer Archer Aviation. On 23 March 2023, the pair announced their plans to launch a regular air connection between Chicago O'Hare (ORD), the city's main international airport and Vertiport Chicago, in the heart of the city's business area.
While in the United Kingdom Vertical Aerospace is leading the field after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) granted the company the first electric vertical take-off and landing Design Organization Approval (DOA). This allows Vertical Aerospace to continue to progress with the certification of the VX4 eVTOL aircraft, which will undoubtably please its list of waiting customers that include American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines and GOL.
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Future Flight.
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This story is from the May 2023 edition of Future Flight.
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