The firefighting airplane of the future, hybrid eVTOLs & more (The Allplane Newsletter #188)

This is our regular compilation of the most interesting stories in aviation sustainability and innovation

Advanced Air Mobility

I went to the Osaka 2025 World Expo in Japan to check out the Advanced Air Mobility pavilion and the Archer & Japan Airlines immersive eVTOL experience.

Joby flew two of its eVTOLs simultaneously for the very first time. The company said it expects to start flight testing in Dubai by the middle of this year (which is already almost…now?)

Archer, in turn, has been selected as the official eVTOL provider of the LA 2028 Summer Olympics.

Electric Aviation

Hybrid-electric propulsion seems to be in fashion:

Ampaire had its G-1 Issue Paper for the AMP-H570 propulsion system approved by the FAA, bringing it one step closer to certification
Vertical Aerospace announced it is working on a hybrid-electric version of the VX4 eVTOL with a range of up to 1,000 miles.
(check out also our podcast episode with Vertical’s CTO, Michael Cervenka)
Archer had already said in December 2024 that it was working with new generation defense tech company Anduril on an hybrid-electric propulsion system.

Vertical Aerospace has also signed a partnership with aerospace giant Honeywell to work together on the certification of the avionics and other systems produced by the American giant for the VX4 eVTOL. Vertical places a tag value of $1B on this joint project.

Amprius has developed a Li-Ion battery with silicon anodes reaching, reportedly, 450 Wh/kg and it is gearing up to get it certified and into industrial production. Quite impressive if it makes it to the market as announced.

REGENT is racking up an increasing number of seaglider orders, this time in the Caribbean.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

The UK is preparing to pass legislation guaranteeing certain price levels to SAF producers, reports Greenair News, a measure that aims to stimulate investment in expanding production capacity by lowering risks for investors.

Metafuels, a Swiss company that is aiming to make SAF out of methanol (both biogenic and synthetic) through a process called “aerobrew”, will build a production plant in Rotterdam.

Hydrogen Aviation

ZeroAvia is exploring cargo applications for its hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain.

German startup Evia Aero has selected Stralis hydrogen-electric Beech 1900D-HE aircraft for its planned zero emissions future regional operation.

What else in aviation?

There is a whole bunch of seaplane entrepreneurs working on the firefighting aircraft of the future. Check out who they are.

Check out also this in-depth interview with SAS CEO Anko van der Werff, sharing his insights about the momentous change the Scandinavian carrier is going through.

While many airlines are just starting to think about upgrading their cabin offering for single-aisle aircraft that are flying increasingly longer segments, Air Astana has been delivering a top-notch experience on its A321LRs for quite some time. Check out my flight review of Air Astana’s business class.

In the previous newsletter send out I explained how CellPoint Digital is tackling a key issue for the airline industry: abandoned shopping carts and it is doing so in partnership with another tech firm called Checkout.com. It looks like I added the wrong link though, so here is the story.

It’s been 30 years since the first delivery, to United Airlines, of a B777 aircraft!

Turkish commercial aviation firms are becoming sort of collateral damage in the India-Pakistan conflict.

Why are so many airliners clipping wings at US airports lately?

Are we heading towards a deregulation of supersonic civilian flight in the US?

NewsletterMiquelMay 19, 2025Comment