Airbus presents eVTOL prototype to public
The rollout of Airbus’ eVTOL is an “important and very real step” towards AAM, according to Balkiz Sarihan, the firm’s head of Urban Air Mobility.
The CityAirbus NextGen prototype, which is due for its maiden flight later this year, is a two-tonne aircraft with a wing span of approximately 12 metres, capable of reaching a cruise speed of 120 km/h with a range of up to 80km. The company confirmed to Revolution.Aero the prototype is full-scale and is the first in a series of prototype aircraft.
“Rolling out CityAirbus NextGen for the very first time is an important and very real step that we are taking towards advanced air mobility and our future product and market,” said Sarihan. “Thank you to our community, team and partners all over the world for helping us make this a reality.”
The unveiling coincided with the opening of the new CityAirbus test centre in Donauwörth in southern Germany. The centre will be dedicated to testing systems for CityAirbus NextGen. The centre began its operations with the NextGen’s power-on in December 2023 and it will now host the remaining tests required before the prototype’s maiden flight later in the year. Tests cover the electric motors with their eight rotors as well as the aircraft’s other systems such as flight controls and avionics.
Airbus is also expanding its global network and partnerships to create an ecosystem that it hopes will “foster a successful and viable” AAM market. The aviation giant recently signed a partnership agreement with LCI in this regard.
