Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions and Blade Air Mobility have agreed a deal which will see Eve provide Blade with up to 60,000 hours of flight time per year on its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, beginning in 2026.
Blade is an urban air mobility (UAM) platform that looks to offer cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested ground routes in the United States and elsewhere. Currently, its service mostly relies on helicopters and amphibious fixed-wing aircraft. Blade will use the flight time on Eve’s aircraft to serve Southern Florida and West Coast markets in the US.
Embraer subsidiary Eve was established with the aim of accelerating the UAM ecosystem. Its zero-emission and low-noise electric vertical aircraft (EVA) has already reached a number of development milestones, including the first flight of the engineering simulator in July 2020 and a proof of concept in October 2020.
Together with local partners, Eve plans to deploy up to 60 aircraft for Blade’s use in the US, with Blade paying for the flight time. The deployment of the aircraft across the Blade network is subject to the parties entering into definitive final agreements.
Andre Stein, president and CEO of Eve, said: “Blade is aligned with our mission as they have created a platform that provides the user with seamless access to urban air mobility, and now with Eve to provide an experience that is quiet and without emissions. The company’s platform will be instrumental in deploying our aircraft in key markets in South Florida and the West Coast of the United States. This partnership with Blade is the next step in unlocking the future of mobility in these key areas and marks an exciting time for both companies.”
Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade, stated: “Blade is pleased to partner with Eve, leveraging Embraer’s deep aerospace expertise to provide Blade with quiet, zero-carbon, electric aircraft. Eve’s aircraft provides ideal operating economics for Blade’s shorter distance routes, adding to our three other recently announced EVA partnerships which, together, can optimise service for Blade’s wide variety of mission profiles and regional hubs.”
