WASHINGTON, D.C.—Within the next month, the FAA will release a final rule outlining pilot certification and initial operations for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis and other powered-lift aircraft, a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) official said Thursday.

At Honeywell’s third annual Advanced Ait Mobility (AAM) Summit in Washington, D.C., Christopher Coes, acting undersecretary of transportation for policy within the DOT, said a highly anticipated special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) defining the rules will be published in the next few weeks.

“The department has a final rule for our powered-lift operations, and we expect that that will be published in the next month,” Coes said. “And I think you will see it is quite responsive to the industry’s comments.”

Industry Raises Concerns

The FAA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the powered-lift SFAR in June 2023. The rule would set alternative training and eligibility requirements for certifying powered-lift pilots as well as create operational rules for passenger and cargo transport.

But the document was decried by a collective of stakeholders, spearheaded by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), who took issue with many of the agency’s proposals.

Namely, industry groups believe powered-lift training courses should credit existing rotorcraft and airplane category certificates, and pilots should be able to add a powered-lift rating directly to those permissions. They urged the FAA to lower the threshold for powered-lift flight hours, remove a requirement that limits training to dual control aircraft, and allow more training in simulators.

The groups also argue that performance-based—rather than prescriptive—rules should be used for powered-lift flight, such as by applying airplane and rotorcraft rules as appropriate rather than creating a new category of operations.

Kristie Greco Johnson, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), said Thursday that members are seeking a “practical pathway” to AAM integration. And the SFAR could be that pathway.

“AAM isn’t a future Jetsons concept,” Johnson said. “It is actually happening right now in our airspace.”

Amanda Joyner, managing director of government affairs for GAMA, agreed with Johnson and said members are hopeful that the SFAR will help them to get their products on the market quickly. Eventually, investment into AAM manufacturers will dry up if the firms are unable to demonstrate a product, so a final rule could help them begin to turn a profit.

What It Means

The deadline for a powered-lift SFAR is December 16, as mandated by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 signed into law on May 16—a provision that was lauded by industry organizations, private companies, and lawmakers alike.

The FAA earlier this week missed the bill’s September 16 deadline to issue a NPRM for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flight. But Andrew Miller, a staffer on the Senate Commerce Minority Committee, and Alexander Simpson, a staffer on that chamber’s majority counterpart, said they are confident the FAA will meet the SFAR timeframe. Hunter Presti, a staffer on the House Majority Transportation Committee, is optimistic but believes it will be tight.

According to Simpson, should the agency miss its deadline, existing standards and regulations for rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft would apply to powered-lift models.

Coes said his office is simultaneously developing a U.S. national strategy to safely integrate AAM operations alongside conventional aircraft. That plan has been in the works for over a year and is under department review.

The initiative will require an interagency review and final briefing to Congress, “but I am confident that this will be a set of documents that can be championed by the industry, by academia, by labor, our state and local partners, as well as Congress,” Coes said.

Coes added that his team is working with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s AAM study group to harmonize international consensus on AAM standards, practices, and procedures. The goal, he said, is to ensure the U.S. takes the reins on those provisions.

Conference attendees including Coes hope the FAA and other federal agencies will be able to use the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 as a showcase for AAM technology. The event could also serve as a proving ground for the integration of AAM aircraft with other transportation systems.

In support of that effort, the FAA last year released its Innovate28 blueprint for air taxi integration. Earlier this year, the agency proposed comprehensive certification criteria for AAM aircraft, laying the groundwork to get them approved to fly.

But there is still a long way to go, and the powered-lift SFAR—whenever it is released—will be a key part of the process.

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Runway Occupancy Awareness (ROA) is a software solution that uses Surface Indications and Alert (SURF-IA) technology to warn a pilot about a potential conflict from either an aircraft or ground vehicle, giving the flight crew enough time to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

How It Works

According to Garmin, ROA analyzes aircraft GPS and ADS-B traffic information resulting in enhanced situational awareness. This helps avoid runway and taxiway incursions in the busy and confusing airport environment, especially during low-light situations or during inclement weather when visibility is compromised.

• READ MORE: We Fly: Garmin Autoland for the Beechcraft King Air 200

Crews are alerted of a possible event in time for them to take prompt and corrective action, according to the company.

“With the rate of runway incursions increasing, there is a real need for increased safety tools in the cockpit,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director of aviation ROA technology. “Equipping pilots with this technology can reduce the risk of runway incursions and help provide confidence for pilots navigating busy and complex airports.” 

Textron Aviation received the initial FAA certification for ROA on the G1000-equipped Cessna Caravan. Garmin expects to obtain FAA certification for ROA in its G5000 STC for Cessna Citation Excel, XLS, XLS+ and XLS Gen2 by next month. 

• READ MORE: Honeywell Demonstrates SURF-A Runway Incursion Avoidance Tech

Certification for more Garmin-equipped aircraft is expected to follow in the coming months, according to the company.

ROA is initially available on select Garmin-integrated flight decks, ranging from G1000 NXi- to G5000-equipped aircraft serving the broad general and business aviation markets.

“We think it is important for the entire aviation industry to know this technology exists and is available in Garmin-integrated flight decks,” a Garmin spokesperson said. “Our flight decks serve general aviation, business aviation, helicopters, defense, and advanced air mobility, and we feel the entire industry will benefit from more aircraft having this technology. For aircraft equipped with a Garmin integrated flight, which includes ADS-B, this is a software upgrade.”

• READ MORE: FAA Investing $100M in Bid to Curb Runway Incursions

Visual, Aural Warnings

Garmin ROA provides visual crew-alerting system (CAS) caution and warning annunciations to the pilot’s primary flight display (PFD) on Garmin’s Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) in either yellow or red depending on the level of threat. Warning annunciations appear on the SafeTaxi map while simultaneously appearing on the multifunction window.

The flight crews get both visual and aural alerts, ranging from no immediate collision hazard to a warning level alert where a collision risk could occur within 15 seconds.

The crew will be warned when there is traffic landing, taking off, stopped, or taxiing on the aircraft’s runway. Warnings are also issued when traffic is on approach to the aircraft’s runway or a runway that crosses the aircraft’s runway, or on the runway where the aircraft is holding.

ROA is the next level of Garmin’s other Terminal Safety Solutions, such as Runway Overrun Awareness and Alerting System (ROAAS), Garmin SafeTaxi, and Garmin SurfaceWatch. This suite of software was created to improve and increase situational awareness during ground operations.

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The manufacturer has begun ground testing a new, more advanced full-scale prototype of its flagship VX4 air taxi after an initial prototype was damaged during an uncrewed flight test last year.

A failed pylon affected the way the aircraft’s flight control system communicated with its motors, causing it to tumble from about 30 feet in the air onto the runway at Cotswold Airport (EGBP) in the U.K.

Vertical’s latest prototype air taxi is more powerful, capable of reaching 150 mph—the intended cruise speed for its flagship model—courtesy of an improved power-to-weight ratio. It features new propellers, which were developed prior to last year’s crash, and proprietary battery technology manufactured at a dedicated facility in Bristol.

Sixty percent of the aircraft’s technology and components come from suppliers including Honeywell, Leonardo, GKN Aerospace, Hanwha, and Molicel, compared to 10 percent on the first prototype. The company is also developing an identical prototype.

The new aircraft and its systems have been tested and commissioned, and Vertical has already completed initial ground testing, including propeller balancing and spinning tests that measure the weight distribution of each blade. The next step will be powered propulsion system testing of the air taxi’s powertrain and battery packs, during which the engines will be run while the vehicle is anchored. 

After that, Vertical will need to secure a permit to fly from the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which will allow it to move to the “wheels up” phase: crewed testing of tethered aircraft and low-speed untethered flights. It will also need to perform thrustborne, wingborne, and transition flights, demonstrating that the aircraft can maneuver and gain lift as expected.

The manufacturer’s type certification safety target is the same as that for commercial airliners. Its flagship model will enable a pilot to fly as many as four passengers up to 100 sm (87 nm) while producing zero operating emissions and just 50 dBA of noise during cruise, which the company says allows it to fit seamlessly within an urban soundscape. The firm claims it will be capable of flying from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in only 11 minutes.

Despite suffering a crash, Vertical continues to receive support from the U.K. government, which in February awarded it $10 million to develop its next-generation propellers. The allocation brings the manufacturer’s total U.K. government grant funding received to $47 million

Vertical founder Stephen Fitzpatrick also committed $50 million to the company, which he predicted would keep it liquid through mid-2025. The money will be used to support the aircraft testing and certification process, which the manufacturer hopes to complete by the end of 2026.

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The FAA—which so far has published final airworthiness criteria for two air taxi designs, Archer Aviation’s Midnight and Joby Aviation’s flagship model—issued an advisory circular (AC) that would create the foundation for certification of powered lift vehicles, such as eVTOL aircraft. The AC, which lays out acceptable means for showing compliance with FAA Part 21 requirements for special class aircraft, is open for comment for 60 days.

EASA, meanwhile, updated its special condition for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (SC-VTOL) rules to incorporate new requirements agreed upon with the FAA, covering safe flight and landing, handling qualities, and single-point failures.

Simultaneously, the regulators together revised Safety Emphasis Items (SEI) lists—which determine an agency’s level of involvement in aircraft validation projects—for parts 23, 27, and 29. According to the FAA, the partners have reduced SEI requirements and placed greater responsibility on the authority actually certifying the aircraft.

“The FAA and EASA have achieved a significant milestone on the path to certifying eVTOL aircraft,” the FAA said in a statement. “This also marks important progress in our effort to more closely align rulemaking and policy initiatives between the United States and the European Union. We’re committed to ensuring the safety of the flying public both at home and abroad.”

Both the FAA and EASA have announced ambitious initiatives designed to cement their respective AAM industries as the world’s biggest and best. But before tackling challenges such as eVTOL infrastructure, which will require a network of vertiports and electric chargers to support the aircraft, the regulators first need to define clear certification pathways for the novel designs.

The FAA’s new criteria, intended for powered lift designs with maximum weights of 12,500 pounds and a maximum capacity of six passengers, were developed using standards in FAA parts 23, 27, 33, and 35. The regulator said it leveraged its work on Archer and Joby’s type certification applications to develop the standards, claiming they will create a more efficient path to developing the certification bases for powered lift projects.

For example, the FAA will no longer need to publish airworthiness criteria in the federal register for public notice and comment, as it was required to do for Archer and Joby’s aircraft, for designs that use the standards in the AC. Applicants can now propose certification bases that draw from previously approved designs, such as Archer’s Midnight, or use equivalent level of safety findings to adopt existing airworthiness criteria for their own projects.

EASA, which had already published an initial set of standards for VTOL projects, made a few key changes in the second issue of its SC-VTOL criteria. Unlike the FAA AC, it will not be subject to public consultation.

The most notable change is an increase of the maximum certified takeoff mass (MCTOM) from 7,000 pounds to about 12,500 pounds, one of many examples of the regulator adjusting standards or wording to better align with the FAA AC.

Another key provision is the introduction of a requirement around electrical wiring interconnection systems (EWIS), which transmit data and signals across aircraft systems. Manufacturers will need to prove these can be operated without risk.

So far, China’s EHang is the only eVTOL manufacturer in the world to achieve type certification, awarded by China’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) for the company’s EH216-S in October. Already, the manufacturer has completed commercial demonstration flights and begun mass production.

Things are moving a bit slower in the West, much to the chagrin of U.S. lawmakers and regulators, who don’t anticipate AAM operations at scale until 2028. It’s no secret that Western officials are wary of Chinese drones and electric vehicles, and the country’s growing AAM industry could be a threat to their dominance in that sphere as well.

Monday’s announcements should help accelerate the technology’s growth in the U.S. and Europe. In the coming months, expect the list of eVTOL companies with type certification bases to grow beyond Archer, Joby, and the handful of companies, among them Lilium and Volocopter, collaborating with EASA.

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Archer on Wednesday announced its subsidiary, Archer Air, received an FAA Part 135 air carrier and operator certificate, authorizing it to operate as a commercial airline as Midnight advances toward type certification. The manufacturer anticipates it will achieve that milestone next year. In the meantime, it plans on using its Part 135 approval to fly conventional aircraft “to refine its systems and procedures in advance of launching Midnight into service for airlines like United Airlines,” which in 2021 agreed to purchase $1 billion worth of Archer aircraft.

“Over my career, I’ve helped lead the buildout of JetBlue and Breeze Airways, and now that Archer has its Part 135 and 145 certificates from the FAA, I’m thrilled for our incredible team to commence operations on this innovative new air taxi service soon,” said Tom Anderson, chief operating officer of Archer Air.

The Part 135 certification process comprised five stages, Archer said. The manufacturer was required to submit operational manuals and procedures to the FAA, and company pilots demonstrated compliance with those materials under agency observation.

“This milestone reflects our team’s unwavering dedication to safety and operational excellence as we stand up one of the world’s first electric air taxi services for communities across the U.S. with a safe, sustainable and low noise transportation solution,” said Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer.

Archer’s flagship Midnight is a zero-emission model designed for a pilot to fly as many as four passengers on 20 to 50 sm (17 to 43 nm) air taxi routes, cruising at up to 150 mph (130 knots). The air taxi is intended to be cost competitive with ground-based rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft, replacing lengthy commutes with 10-to-20-minute flights, while producing significantly less noise than a helicopter.

Archer is one of just two eVTOL air taxi manufacturers to receive Part 135 permissions from the FAA, the other being competitor Joby Aviation. Joby, which unlike Archer intends to operate its own aircraft in the U.S., obtained its authorization in 2022.

Archer will have a hand to play in United’s operation of Midnight, though.

The company is developing a proprietary operations software platform, mobile booking platform, and technology that will integrate with vertiports, all of which will be essential to a commercial service. Now, it can begin to refine those platforms using conventional aircraft.

With Wednesday’s announcement, Archer now holds Part 135 and Part 145 certification, the latter of which authorizes it to perform select maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. But Midnight won’t be able to fly commercially until it achieves type certification, which would validate the aircraft’s design, and production certification, which will allow Archer to begin producing the type-certified model.

The manufacturer has already begun building three type-conforming Midnight air taxis to be used in crewed flight testing later this year. For-credit evaluations with the FAA will follow and represent one of the most critical steps in the type certification process.

The agency in May awarded Archer final airworthiness criteria for Midnight, which laid out the standards it will use to gauge the aircraft’s ability to integrate safely into the national airspace. Competitor Joby is the only other eVTOL manufacturer to reach that step with the regulator, obtaining its own criteria one month prior.

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According to Tecnam, the company is now on track to begin deliveries to U.S. flight schools.

• READ MORE: We Fly: Tecnam P-Mentor

“The FAA certification of the P-Mentor is another significant milestone for the Tecnam team,” said  Giovanni Pascale Langer, Tecnam managing director. “We look forward to working with all U.S. flight schools to improve the quality of training and help them keep hourly rates low.” 

The performance specs of the Tecnam P-Mentor put its hourly fuel consumption at 3.7 U.S. gallons per hour.

• READ MORE: Tecnam Signs Deals for HCH Aviation Fleet Transition

Deliveries of the aircraft in North America will begin soon, with the first 20 going to HCH Aviation/Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Deliveries will also be made to Kilo Charlie Aviation in New Century, Kansas, and EpicSky Flight Academy in Des Moines, Iowa.

About the P-Mentor

The two-place P-Mentor sports a Rotax 912isC3, with a variable pitch propeller, simulated retractable landing gear, and optional ballistic parachute. The cockpit features a Garmin G3X IFR touchscreen suite compliant with the latest CS-23 EASA and FAA amendments. The aircraft is designed to take a learner from private pilot and instrument training up through commercial certification on a single platform.

According to Capua, Italy-based Tecnam, the P-Mentor is one of the most environmentally efficient designs available, with very low carbon dioxide emissions. 

“Recent study shows that flight schools operating with Tecnam single- and twin-engine fleets can reduce emissions by up to 60 percent: 10 tons of CO2 for each student by the time they receive their commercial pilot license,” the company said in a statement.

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The company on Wednesday announced it completed the build of its Certification System Bench, a flight test simulator designed to speed its path to an STC. The simulator contains the company’s certifiable software and hardware components and is located at its Boston headquarters.

An STC is issued by a regulator when a company intends to modify an aerospace product from its initial, type-certified design. The approval authorizes the modification and how it will affect the original product.

In the case of Merlin, the company is seeking an STC from New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for Merlin Pilot, its platform-agnostic, takeoff-to-touchdown autonomy system for fixed-wing aircraft. Pilot uses an array of sensors to understand the state of the aircraft and its surroundings. The firm is working toward concurrent validation with the FAA through a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between it and the CAA.

However, Merlin’s goal, at least in the short term, is not to remove the pilot from the cockpit entirely. Rather, it intends to supplement pilot workloads to combat the ongoing pilot shortage.

“In many ways, the Certification System Bench acts as a testing ‘funnel,’” said Sherif Ali, chief engineer for Merlin Pilot. “It allows us to test hundreds of cases with speed and ease, selecting edge cases to take to in-flight testing. As a result, we’re able to reduce the use of our test aircraft and keep it for limited cases only.”

The Certification System Bench will allow Merlin to test its automation systems from its headquarters, with no limitations due to factors such as weather, maintenance schedules, or pilot availability. The company says it provides a one-to-one replica of its in-flight technology, with three screens representing the pilot deck, instrument panels, and primary flight display.

The technology is equipped with the same software and hardware components found within the Pilot system. Further, cameras installed on the Bench allow Merlin’s global team to access it and perform testing remotely.

“With pilots on the Certification System Bench, we are able to learn multitudes about human factors while gaining accreditation towards our STC,” said Ali. “No other company in the sector has put more resources towards this type of testing simulator.”

According to Merlin, the Certification System Bench represents a “significant investment” for the firm—costing millions of dollars more than its actual aircraft—but one that will be worthwhile.

The company says ground tests on the Certification System Bench are accredited by aviation regulators, allowing those evaluations to contribute toward STC approval. Further, the technology should allow testing to become more routine. Technicians won’t need to worry about heavy rain or malfunctioning aircraft parts.

“Ensuring the Merlin Pilot is robust, safe, and reliable is our top priority, which underscores this [Certification] System Bench build as a huge milestone in Merlin’s certification journey,” said Matt George, founder and CEO of Merlin. “It took the team six months to design, vet solutions for, and build the Certification System Bench to extremely stringent specifications.”

Merlin is taking a “crawl-walk-run” approach to certification and operations, beginning with testing with the FAA and CAA, from which it recently obtained Part 135 operator approval. The next step will be to fly small aircraft with reduced crews, relying mostly on Pilot but augmented by a safety pilot. After that, the company intends to remove crews from small aircraft and reduce crews on larger aircraft.

Merlin received the first certification basis for an autonomous flight system from the CAA in 2023. Last year, Pilot also became the first autonomy system to secure U.S. National Airspace System integration and FAA validation, following agency-contracted uncrewed cargo network trials in Alaska, the company says.

Pilot so far has been integrated on five different aircraft types, including Dynamic Aviation’s fleet of Beechcraft King Airs and several aircraft from Ameriflight, the largest Part 135 cargo airline in the U.S.

Merlin further has a longstanding relationship with the U.S. Air Force, through which it has modified several military transport aircraft. In 2022, the company tested single-pilot crews aboard a Lockheed Martin C130J Hercules and conducted an autonomous refueling mission using a KC-46A Pegasus with no copilot.

In February, the partners extended their collaboration to demonstrate Pilot on a KC-135 Stratotanker. Merlin expects in-flight trials to begin next year, starting with a series of basic air refueling operations.

However, Merlin is not the only autonomous flight systems partner working with the Air Force. The department also has relationships with providers such as Xwing, Reliable Robotics, and rotorcraft manufacturer Sikorsky, which is developing an autonomy suite called Matrix.

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The approval was granted by the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), representatives of which met with EHang founder, chairman, and CEO Huazhi Hu at a ceremony in Guangzhou’s Huangpu District on Sunday.

The event was attended by local government officials, including the district mayor of Huangpu District and deputy mayor of Yunfu City—the site of EHang’s main production facility. The facility is expected to churn out 600 aircraft annually once production scales.

EHang has now obtained production, type, and standard airworthiness certification for its flagship EH216-S: a self-flying, two-passenger design with a range of about 19 nm and cruise speed around 70 knots. The company said the latest approval gives the company “all requisite regulatory certifications” needed to lay the groundwork for commercial operations in China.

“We believe the collaborative efforts of pioneering low-altitude enterprises like EHang and governments, will infuse the industry with momentum and confidence, propelling the low-altitude economy towards a prosperous future,” said Dan Xu, deputy district mayor of Huangpu District.

Autonomous eVTOL aircraft like EHang’s EH216-S are intended to form what Chinese officials have termed the “low-altitude economy.” Similar to the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry being developed in places such as the U.S. and European Union, the low-altitude economy is expected to encompass aerial tourism and sightseeing, emergency medical services, passenger air taxi flights, and other eVTOL-related activities.

EHang in December gave citizens a glimpse of the promised services with commercial demonstration flights in the cities of Guangzhou and Hefei. According to the company, these represented the first passenger-carrying flights by an eVTOL. However, customers flew for free, and the service is not yet routine.

With production certification now joining EHang’s prior approvals, the company is in position to scale up those operations.

“The issuance of the PC [production certification] is pivotal for the EH216-S, as it opens the door to mass production and a crucial step for our advancement towards commercial operations,” said Hu. “With the PC as the starting point, we are poised to gradually expand production and delivery to meet escalating market demands. Our vision is to introduce safe and reliable pilotless eVTOL aircraft to the global market.”

The production certificate is validation from the CAAC that EHang’s mass production quality management system meets the regulator’s airworthiness requirements, authorizing it for mass manufacturing.

The quality management system covers EH216-S’s raw materials, supplier management, production organization and quality control, pre-delivery testing, and post-sale repair and maintenance. The system also enables traceability and safety control to ensure the aircraft rolling off the production line adhere to EHang’s type design requirements, the company says.

CAAC assessed 19 elements of the system and the company’s production capabilities, concluding it has the ability to produce aircraft that will fly safely in Chinese airspace.

EHang says the company is now preparing for commercial operations in China, such as by training personnel and developing EH216-S operational systems. According to the manufacturer, about 20 Chinese provinces are prioritizing the development of the low-altitude economy in 2024, including by enacting favorable policies and regulations, allocating funding and subsidies, and identifying suitable eVTOL takeoff and landing sites.

Recently released CAAC guidance positions the Nansha District in Guangzhou—one of the two cities in which EHang flew in December—as the focal point for the industry. The Guangzhou municipal government has announced several policy initiatives intended to back EHang, while Hefei has committed to invest as much as $100 million.

EHang’s China market entry is also being heavily supported by the central government, which last week released plans for the low-altitude economy through 2030. Beijing’s upcoming initiatives include the construction of takeoff and landing infrastructure, streamlining of airworthiness certification, and improvement of the country’s air traffic management system. The government also called to establish a network of eVTOL demonstration sites, with a particular focus on urban use cases.

EHang, working with CAAC, said it will help establish the world’s first regulatory system and standards for commercial eVTOL operations in the second quarter of this year. Several regulators, including the FAA and more recently the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), have proposed guidelines for such services, but few, if any, have finalized them.

Throughout 2024, EHang says it will coordinate with multiple governments to build eVTOL vertiports and shape the “benchmark” cities it views as ideal candidates for the low-altitude economy. It intends to launch commercial operation ceremonies for use cases such as aerial tourism and urban air taxis, using its demonstration sites in Guangzhou and Hefei in addition to its urban air mobility (UAM) operation center at OH Bay in Shenzhen.

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The milestone paves the way for deliveries of the long-awaited business jet—initially projected for the first quarter of 2024—to begin,

• READ MORE: What’s Next in New Aircraft

“We have successfully completed the most rigorous certification program in company history with the G700,” Gulfstream president Mark Burns said in a statement. “The G700 brings a new level of performance and cabin comfort to business aviation and is doing so while meeting the highest certification standards our industry has ever seen.”

• READ MORE: Engine Certification Brings Gulfstream G700, G800 Closer to Market Debut

The G700 is powered by two Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines and able to accommodate up to 19 passengers. 

According to the manufacturer, the certification of the G700 confirms new performance improvements, “giving customers increased flexibility and airport availability: a balanced field length takeoff distance of 5,995 feet and a landing distance of 3,150 feet (standard [International Standard Atmosphere] day, sea level), both shorter than originally anticipated.”

• READ MORE: New Gulfstream G700 Beats Projections During Testing

In September, Gulfstream said the G700 had a range up to 7,750 nm at Mach 0.85 or 6,650 nm at Mach 0.90, which represented a gain of 250 nm at both speeds compared to original projections. The aircraft’s top operating speed was Mach 0.935, and its cabin altitude was reduced to 2,840 feet.

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The manufacturer last week said it received a $10 million grant from the U.K. government through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) program, its fourth grant award through that initiative. The award brings Vertical’s total U.K. government grant funding to $47 million and follows founder and CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick’s personal commitment to provide another $50 million.

The company will use the money to develop next-generation propellers for the VX4, its flagship, four-passenger eVTOL air taxi. The propellers will be featured on Aircraft Two, a full-scale prototype in production that will build on its Aircraft One model.

Aircraft One is the company’s inaugural prototype that suffered a crash during uncrewed testing at Cotswold Airport (EGBP) in August. The accident damaged the model’s right wing and landing gear, and rendered it unusable for further flight testing.

“This exciting sustainable propeller project is a fantastic example of our commitment to our world-leading aviation sector, supporting high-skilled, high-paid jobs across the U.K. while developing technologies of the future,” said Nusrat Ghani, U.K. minister of state for industry and economic security. “When government and industry collaborate like this, we help our aerospace sector soar to new heights, leading the charge towards net-zero air travel by 2050.”

Vertical will head a consortium of U.K. technology organizations and research institutions, including the University of Glasgow, University of Bristol, Cranfield University, and Helitune, a helicopter monitoring specialist.

Of the more than $25 million being poured into the propeller project, Vertical said it received more than $10 million, or about half of the company’s eligible development costs. Another $4.5 million will be awarded to other consortium members.

According to Vertical, the new propellers will be lower in weight, inertia, and noise than its existing propellers and will be “delivered to a higher safety standard than any model currently on the market.”

“The project will see advancements in rotor technologies vital to the success of eVTOL aircraft developed here in the U.K., growing knowledge, skills and capability in the process,” said Mark Scully, head of propulsion and advanced systems technology for ATI. “Through this investment the ATI Programme is enabling the development of ultra-efficient and cross-cutting technologies.”

The award follows Fitzpatrick’s commitment to support Vertical with $50 million out of his own pocket. The company last week confirmed it has entered into an investment agreement with its founder and CEO, putting the promise to paper.

By its own estimate, Vertical risked running out of cash by September amid the fallout from its August crash and delays to its certification timeline, which over the years has been pushed from 2024 to 2026. The company reportedly missed a target to raise funding by December. Its previous raise of $205 million closed more than two years ago.

However, Vertical said Fitzpatrick’s contribution will extend its cash runway into mid-2025, with more funding potentially lined up pending the completed flight test campaign of Aircraft Two. Last month, it said the full-scale prototype was nearing completion at partner GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Center in the U.K.

Aircraft Two is expected to be Vertical’s certification aircraft that it will use in for-credit type certification testing with the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In addition to the next-generation propellers, the updated design adds a revamped powertrain, refined flight control system, and battery packs designed to meet thermal runaway safety requirements. It will feature components made by certification partners Honeywell, GKN, Hanwha, Solvay, and Leonardo.

Vertical intends for Aircraft Two to complete a flight campaign and several public demonstrations this year. These are expected to include an appearance at the Farnborough International Airshow at Farnborough Airport (EGLF) in July, as well as flights to and from London Heathrow Airport (EGLL).

In March, Vertical received CAA design organization approval (DOA), a required step in the regulator’s type certification process. Only a handful of air taxi firms, including Germany’s Volocopter and Lilium, have obtained DOA from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

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