With a payload of roughly 249 kgs (550 pounds), the recently announced Air One Cargo eVTOL aircraft is an uncrewed freighter version of Air’s piloted personal eVTOL aircraft. And it has drawn much interest from potential customers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and orders already having been placed. The Israeli-founded and Fort Worth, Texas-operating company reported revenues of more than USD 1 million for 2023, “mainly from early orders for the Air One Cargo vehicle. Further purchase orders have boosted Air’s revenue projections to unspecified totals for 2024 and 2025,” according to the release. Regarding the Air One passenger version, Air has currently registered 1,170 reservations. Plus, a first example of the Air One Cargo model has already been provided “to a customer based in an undisclosed country where it can be operated on a self-regulated basis under an experimental license prior to type certification,” the release reveals. The all-electric Air One Cargo will have a single-charge range of circa 95 nm, and will travel at speeds of between 87 and 135 knots. More examples of the little electric freighter are due to be delivered during 2024 and the first half of 2025.
The Air One prototype is now accruing flight test hours in preparation also for its FAA type certification, which was originally planned for the end of 2024, through this may change. In FEB24, Air announced a partnership with Japan’s Nidec Motor Corporation to develop a new electric motor for the Air One aircraft.
Rani Plaut, Co-Founder and CEO of Air, said: “Venturing into this new market with the Air One Cargo is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the integration of eVTOLs into all spheres of daily life, for a variety of use cases. We expanded our offerings in response to strong market demand, and the feedback we’ve already received affirms that Air One’s robust capabilities and simple, cost-effective design make it an extremely agile platform, uniquely able to scale across different uses.”
