eVTOL Insights’ London Conference provides more excellent discussions from some of the industry’s biggest players
More than 110 industry professionals joined eVTOL Insights for its London conference last Wednesday (April 19th), to hear the latest developments across the global Advanced Air Mobility market.
Held at the Leonardo Royal Tower Bridge — 15 minutes away from the Tower of London — a packed agenda included fireside chats, panel discussions and keynote presentations on topics such as finance and investment, public acceptance, city integration, brand design, electric propulsion, pilot training and various OEM updates.
For those who were unable to attend this event, videos and a full gallery of pictures will be available on our website very soon.
Here are a selection of highlights from the day:
The day kicked off with a fascinating talk with Stephen Fitzpatrick, Founder and CEO of Vertical Aerospace, who spoke more about the work his company is doing towards certifying its eVTOL aircraft. Attendees got a real insight into what it takes to launch a company, the lessons learnt along the way and why the UK can be a pivotal market for the industry.
We also learnt how Stephen was inspired to create Vertical Aerospace after being gridlocked in Sao Paulo traffic when travelling to the Brazilian Grand Prix back in 2015. After seeing everyone else flying to the event by helicopter, he wanted to reduce the time it takes to travel to destinations.
One of the interesting highlights from the presentation of Pamir Sevincel, CEO of Sevincel Consulting, entitled ‘Startups, VC & AAM: Strategy for Success in the Bear Market’, was that 50 per cent of startups set over the over the last four years will go bankrupt by the end of this year.
There was also a really interesting talk by Dr. Chris Harris, CEO of Evolito, who expanded more on the key learnings from the automotive industry and how these would accelerate the ‘Electrication of Aerospace’.
On the topic of investment, Mariya Tarabanovska, Founder at Flight Crowd, shared that more than $16 billion has already been placed in the eVTOL industry since 2021. Many people predict this figure will likely increase in the coming years.
Our first panel discussion of the day was talking about the ‘passenger experience’, with Arthur Gilmore, President and CEO of the Gilmore Group, Kolin Schunck of Lufthansa Innovation Hub and Frederic Aguettant, Founder at Helipass. The trio started off by talking about the economics, and how do operators calculate the initial operating costs so they can ensure early profitability.
Kolin talks about the Hassle Effect, or the steps between a journey that a customer might take. If a passenger encounters delays getting to a vertiport, would they then opt for another method of transportation? Frederic talks about digital software booking, and how the transformation is very slow, with very few helicopter operators having a platform for this. He also mentions that the eVTOL OEMs are going to be providing a service and not aviation.
Arthur then gives an interesting insight about the branding side, saying that we’re designing an aircraft not to fly, but to fly people. He goes into more detail about some detailed studies Gilmore Group conducted when it comes to tolerance, comfort and what is believed by safety. The speakers then all discuss the idea of building trust to the end user, with a notable mention about accessibility.
After lunch, Mike Gascoyne provided an incredible insight into his career within Formula One and how he set up his company, MGI Engineering. The firm coincided eVTOL Insights’ London Conference to officially launch its cargo UAV technology demonstrator programme.
MGI is applying Formula 1 development philosophies and mindset to the cargo eVTOL UAV market. Mike previously worked at McLaren, Tyrrell, Sauber, Renault and Toyota, before setting up the Lotus F1 Team through MGI in 2009.
MGI Engineering has been developing cargo eVTOL technologies for the past year, with the aim of providing these services to the wider industry.
Of the many eVTOL talks, which included Bhavesh Mandalia’s excellent overview of the pathway towards dual certification, Archer CEO Adam Goldstein and AutoFlight’s Mark Henning both agreed it is not about the eVTOL duration in the air, but its specific purpose of 20-minute flights over crowded cities from point A to B and back. We also heard from Greg Bowles, Joby Aviation’s Global Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs, who said the company is now flying a maximum of four times a day if the weather is clear; a clear indication of its continued progress with its aircraft.
Other key highlights from the afternoon’s session include Clem Newton-Brown from Skyportz, whose company has identified at least 400 potential vertiport sites in Australia. Fresh from hosting India’s inaugural AAM event, Darrell Swanson and Jarek Zych of EA Maven shared more about its Regional Air Mobility Index. It included the fascinating idea that the country — which could soon be the most populous in the world — might save 1.3 million years of productivity if eVTOL aircraft launched.
The final discussion of the day saw Kirsten Riensema, Advanced Air Mobility Lead at the UK CAA, Lirio Liu, Executive Directior of Aircraft Certification at the FAA and Trevor Woods, Regulatory Director at Vertical Aerospace, talk about a key topic — certification.
Kirsten and Lirio provided a real high level updates on what each authority is doing when it comes to certification and past workforces with EASA. The pair discussed how regulators can become more harmonised, so they can all work together, while Trevor talked about the significance of timing and how the need for collaboration and transparency at this crucial period.
He also goes in more detail about the significance of Vertical’s Design Organisation Approval (DOA) with the UK CAA, and with more than 1,400 pre-orders from customers across the world, the work that goes into validating an aircraft with many regulators.
Our next event will be in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands from July 4th to 5th. Tickets are on sale and you can find more information here. As we sold out our London event, we anticipate Singapore will be another packed room!