Airbus plans to continue development of its CityAirbus eVTOL despite the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the industry.
“Airbus considers new forms of air transport such as UAM [urban air mobility] an opportunity to develop key technologies for the future of VTOL platforms, including electric flight and autonomy,” an Airbus spokesperson told Vertical on May 5. “As such, we are continuing the test program of our technology demonstrator CityAirbus.”
CityAirbus has been developed at Airbus Helicopters’ facilities in Donauwörth, Germany, with plans to conduct more extensive flight testing in Manching.
“The test campaign is ongoing, the expansion of the flight envelope in Manching is on the agenda, but due to the current situation we can’t give a timeframe,” the spokesperson said. “Of course Covid-19 has slowed down everything.”
“We’re steadfast in our belief that there’s no world in which the future of air travel is not a sustainable one,” stated Airbus CTO Grazia Vittadini. “As we start to navigate the realities of a post-Covid-19 world, I’m more certain than ever that we need to continue full speed ahead with our sustainability ambitions.”