Embraer subsidiary Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions, Inc. (Eve) has chosen to partner with Blade Air Mobility, Inc. (Blade) for the provision of up to 60,000 hours of flight time for urban air mobility (UAM) electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), from 2026 onwards, to be used for the Southern Florida and American West Coast markets. This is a unique situation whereby Eve will offer a wide range of products and services.
Eve's zero-emission and low-noise eVTOL represents a simple and intuitive design that continues to reach development milestones, including the first flight of the engineering simulator in July 2020, and a proof of concept in October 2020. In parallel with this, Eve's Urban Air Traffic Management project has reached a new milestone in its collaboration with the U.K.s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to develop a scalable environment needed to host UAM flights. “Blade is aligned with our mission as they have created a platform that provides the user seamless access to Urban Air Mobility, and now with Eve to provide an experience that is quiet and without emissions.
The company's platform will be instrumental in deploying our aircraft in key markets in South Florida and the West Coast of the United States. “This partnership with Blade is the next step in unlocking the future of mobility in these key areas and marks an exciting time for both companies,” said Andre Stein, President & CEO of Eve. In conjunction with local partners, Eve will provide up to 60 eVTOLs for Blade's use, the latter paying only for flight time of Eve's aircraft.
The deployment of Eve aircraft across the Blade network is subject to the parties entering into definitive final agreements. “Blade is pleased to partner with Eve, leveraging Embraer's deep aerospace expertise to provide Blade with quiet, zero-carbon, electric aircraft,” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade. “Eve's aircraft provides ideal operating economics for Blade's shorter distance routes, adding to our three other recently announced EVA partnerships which, together, can optimize service for Blade's wide variety of mission profiles and regional hubs.”
