Source | Airbus Helicopter
In a debriefing of the company’s 2024 conventional helicopter sales, says industry sources, Airbus Helicopters (Marignane, France) CEO Bruno Even announced plans to put a hold on development of its CityAirbus NextGen electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, citing that “the conditions to launch a new program are not necessarily there.”
Airbus unveiled the CityAirbus NextGen program in 2021. Building on the expertise of partners in various urban and remote environments (ITA Airways and Hiratagakuen), as well as composites experts (Spirit and KLK Motorsport and Modell- und), the company began its operations with a power-on in December 2023 and flight test campaigns beginning November 2024 at the test center in Donauwörth, Germany, which was built and officially opened in March 2024. Airbus’ original objective was to launch a full program before the end of the end of the decade.
“[The launch four years ago] has been clearly instrumental in advancing our understanding of technologies which are not only relevant for the urban air mobility market but for all our portfolio,” Even says. However, available battery technology are believed to be a barrier to progress with current eVTOL plans. The launch of any UAM program depends on factors including regulation, maturity of the business model and maturity of the technology.
“The condition to launch a new program, from the technology side … is [first] to be able to perform the mission,” Even adds, as reported by AINonline.com. “We clearly see on the battery side the need to continue to improve the performance to reach what we consider the minimum level of performance and mission.”
This is not to say that Airbus Helicopters has given up on the CityAirbus NextGen entirely. According to Vertical Magazine, for now the company plans to complete its demonstrator’s planned flight test campaign, which is expected to last about a year, while continuing to “monitor the situation.”
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