Advanced air mobility soars ahead

Catherine MacGowan, VP of air operations for Asia-Pacific at Wisk, told Australian Aviation earlier this year that the autonomous systems combine technology on the aircraft and the ground. “The aircraft is designed to fly itself, to fly a prescribed route, and it’s a route that was carefully designed with Airservices or other air navigation service providers,” MacGowan said. “The aircraft will be able to follow those instructions, but also be able to understand the environment around it and respond where necessary, to receive direction from our multi-vehicle supervisor and just see what’s happening around it.

“So, you can think of our autonomous system as having the aircraft, but also the comms links, and then on the ground, we’ll have a multi-vehicle supervisor that is the pilot in command of the aircraft.”

To facilitate its vision of air taxis at the Olympics, Wisk has been signing agreements with stakeholders needed to make it happen, including Airservices Australia and Brisbane’s Archerfield Airport. Archerfield’s executive general manager, Rod Parry, said the airport is well-placed to become a “primary node” in Brisbane’s AAM ecosystem.

“By the time of Brisbane’s Olympic Games, eVTOLs will likely be providing essential emissions-free transport services from vertiports around the region, keeping traffic off our busy roads and ensuring the efficient transfer of personnel to key sites throughout South-East Queensland,” he said.

Flying further

Meanwhile, the idea of a longer-range eVTOL has also been boosted by successful flight tests from Sydney-based company AMSL Aero, which is positioning its Vertiia eVTOL for uses such as aeromedical and cargo transport.

Set to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, Vertiia will – according to AMSL Aero – be capable of flying up to 1,000 kilometres at a cruising speed of 300km/h with up to four passengers and a pilot, opening it up to use cases like emergency medical transport and connecting regional towns and cities.

The eVTOL this year received 26 orders from civil customers, including 20 from Aviation Logistics, which operates the Air Link, AirMed and Chartair brands covering passenger services, aircraft charter, air freight and aeromedical flights across Australia; it is also set to be employed by aeromedical organisation CareFlight and has seen interest across the Tasman from Life Flight New Zealand.

The aircraft recently hit an important milestone with its first untethered test flight, which took place in central western NSW in November, powered by batteries and operated via remote control – an achievement that AMSL Aero co-founder, chief engineer and Vertiia inventor Andrew Moore said is the first by an Australian-designed and built eVTOL.

“Watching Vertiia take to the sky in free flight was a breathtaking experience for our incredible team of engineers and me,” he said. “This landmark is proof that the design we pioneered seven years ago works, and it moves us closer to our goal of improving the lives of remote, rural and regional communities in Australia and around the world with an aircraft that conquers the tyranny of distance with zero emissions.”

Vertiia is slated for hydrogen-powered test flights next year, with its commercial customers expected to put it into service in 2027 pending certification and regulatory approvals.