While certification for passenger operations may be a little while still, the Big Apple has seen its first electrical air taxi flight. On Tuesday this past week, Blade Air Mobility and BETA Technologies operated an electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle test flight out of Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, about one hour north of New York City.<\/p>\n
BETA’s piloted ALIA-250 first took off and flew over the airport alongside a conventional helicopter. Following this first accompanied test run, it then performed another on its own. This marks a milestone in what has been a fairly quick development of the all-electric aircraft. Vermont-based BETA technologies was founded in 2017, and revealed the ALIA in June 2020.<\/p>\n
The company joined forces with Blade two years ago. In April 2021, Blade agreed to purchase 20 passenger ALIA-250\u00a0eVTOLs\u00a0from BETA, intending to use the quiet and eco-friendly mode of transportation to replace its current\u00a0helicopter\u00a0premium ride-sharing offerings between Manhattan and\u00a0New York JFK.<\/p>\n
Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal commented,<\/p>\n
\u201cThis demonstration is a big milestone in our transition from helicopters to electric vertical aircraft, and we are pleased that our partners at Beta have designed the right aircraft with the requisite range, capacity, and noise profile, for use in our key markets, including our homebase of New York City. We are confident EVAs will be a game-changer both for our company and New York City\u2019s transportation system once certified by the FAA.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And it seems markets would agree, with publicly traded Blade’s stock price rising 13% following the announcement of the successful test flight. Have a look at some of the footage from the event, along with further comments from Blade’s Chief Executive below.<\/p>\n
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