US air taxi developer Eve Air Mobility has secured a letter of intent that calls for the potential delivery of up to 50 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles to a start-up operator in Costa Rica.
Eve disclosed on 30 June the tentative deal with Aerosolutions, which is developing an eVTOL operator called Aeros Electric Airlines. Vertiport developer Bluenest is also part of the deal.
Eve is also to provide maintenance and customer and operational support under the deal, which is aimed at developing a “robust advanced air mobility [AAM] ecosystem” in Costa Rica.
The collaboration will focus initially on the Pacific region in northwest Costa Rica, with air taxi routes ranging between 11-27nm (20-50km). Air taxi services are envisioned as relieving road congestion in the popular vacation destination and promoting “sustainable tourism”.
Bluenest is the AAM-focused arm of Spanish transportation infrastructure firm Globalavia, which operates Costa Rica’s National Primary Route 27 connecting the broader San Jose metropolitan area to the Pacific coast.
The partners say they will collaborate on ”dedicated workshops covering critical areas such as vertiport development, airspace integration, pilot training, certification requirements and operational planning”.
Embraer-backed Eve plans to secure type certification of its piloted four-passenger air taxi in 2027. A full-scale mock-up of the eVTOL aircraft was revealed earlier this month during the Paris air show.
