Le Bourget might have had plenty of conventional aircraft to show off, but the unconventional – in the form of air taxis, eVTOLs and futuristic airliners – featured strongly at the 55th running of the French air salon.
Among the high-profile figures at Paris was US transportation secretary Sean Duffy who revealed a regulatory partnership to establish a certification plan for electric air taxis.
Progress with approvals is crucial to the sector’s development. Just ahead of the show, Embraer-linked Eve Air Mobility unveiled projections of 30,000 eVTOLs flying passengers by 2045, underlining its believe in a strong future for the market, even if a dose of realism over timelines and regulatory issues curbed its optimism a little.
Eve identified a Sao Paulo-based helicopter operator as the launch customer for its entry to the eVTOL race, while also disclosing an agreement with a US start-up for dozens more aircraft.
French developer VoltAero showed off a redesign of the Cassio 330 hybrid-electric airframe – adopting a more conventional layout rather than the previous twin-boom tail and push-prop.
VoltAero, which opted for the change after considering certification issues, wasn’t the only company to unveil an evolved design.
Maeve Aerospace of the Netherlands showed off a radical change to its M80 – an aircraft which had already been through several iterations – choosing to pursue a rear-mounted open-fan T-tail, resembling a Fokker 100, aimed at the 90-seat sector.
And Elysian Aircraft is aiming to present an updated design for its 90-seat, eight-engined E9X battery-powered aircraft, which it plans to fly in 2030.
Airbus might have slowed its expectations for hydrogen power. But its next-generation single-aisle, a replacement for the ubiquitous A320 family, is gradually coming into focus, with encouraging data emerging about the CFM RISE engine. And even the current Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine for its A320neo is part of a study to explore its potential for hybrid-electric adaptation.
Vive la revolution, as they say in France.