Eve Air Mobility is on track to complete first flight of its prototype air taxi in December, according to the chief executive of Eve majority shareholder Embraer.
“We are now working the final assembly of parts in the prototype, and the plan for the first flight is for December this year,” Embraer CEO Francisco Gomes Neto said on 5 August during that company’s second-quarter earnings call.
Eve had previously said it expected its air taxi would get airborne for the first time this year, but it had not been more specific. It has predicted the air taxi will be certificated by aviation regulators in 2027.
Eve rolled out a mock-up of the aircraft at the Paris air show in June.
As envisioned, the design will have eight lifting props attached to fixed wings and one tail-mounted pusher prop at its tail. It will have range of about 54nm (100km) and ability to operate “thousands of flight cycles” annually, Eve says.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer created the technology development programme that became Eve, then spun off the unit in 2021.
Eve became a publicly-traded company in 2022, with Embraer holding 83% of its stock, according to Eve’s securities filings.
The air taxi developer has stressed the importance of its relationship with Embraer, saying the legacy aircraft manufacturer brings Eve valuable development and certification assistance.
On 5 August, Embraer chief financial officer Antonio Garcia says Embraer has no plans to divests its ownership.
“We don’t have any thoughts to change the way we are structured today,” he says.
