Embraer has a Letter of Intent from Global Crossing Airlines Group stating its commitment to acquire up to 200 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from the OEM’s Eve UAM LLC business. The pledge raises Eve’s order backlog to 1,785 eVTOLs, which it has said will begin deliveries in 2026.
The transactions defined by the LOI are subject to definitive agreements and receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.
eVTOLs, sometimes referred to as urban air taxis, are electric powered aircraft able to hover, take-off, and land vertically. Various eVTOL developments are in progress by Boeing, Airbus, Honda, and Toyota, as well as Embraer.
Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions is developing an electric vertical aircraft together with a global services and support network, and an air-traffic management technology. Eve conducted the first flight of the engineering simulator for its “zero-emission and low-noise” eVTOL in July 2020, and it presented its proof of concept in October 2020.
Global Crossing (GlobalX) is a U.S. carrier operating a fleet of 121 Airbus A320 aircraft to destinations in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin American markets. “These eVTOLs will enable us to expand our market throughout south Florida, bringing our customers to their flights at MIA and FLL, as well as local flying within Key West and all of the Keys, Naples, and Palm Beach. This will help extend and expand our brand,” stated Ed Wegel, chairman and CEO.
Embraer said the agreement signals the signees’ intention “to explore development of an ecosystem for scaling Urban Air Mobility”, while reinforcing the concept of air-taxi operations in metropolitan Miami.
Andre Stein, co-CEO of Eve, said working with GlobalX “will maximize our efforts to structure UAM operations. Their experience as an airline will contribute to the expansion of Eve’s eVTOL deployment in North America.”
