Chair’s Opening Remarks

From Concept to Certified Operations: Building a Safe, Scalable and Trusted European eVTOL Ecosystem

Luc Tytgat, Executive Director, EASA – European Union Aviation Safety Agency

Europe’s eVTOL sector is entering its most critical phase: the transition from development and demonstration to certification, industrialisation, and early operations.

We set the strategic and regulatory context, outlining where Europe stands today, what must happen next, and where the real challenges now lie—not in concepts or prototypes, but in system safety, certification maturity, operational readiness, and public trust.

Luc Tytgat will frame how EASA views the readiness of eVTOL technologies, the progress and limitations of current certification pathways, and the shared responsibility between regulators, OEMs, suppliers, operators, and infrastructure providers in enabling safe and scalable Advanced Air Mobility across Europe.

• Differences between EASA, FAA, and CAAC approaches

• Certification Reality vs. Industry Expectations

• Status of SC-VTOL and Means of Compliance

Certification to Commercialisation: Global Lessons from China’s First Type-Certified eVTOL

Jose Ignacio Rexach, Chief Commercial Officer EUROPE, EHang

The certification of EHang’s EH216-S in China marked a historic milestone for the eVTOL industry, transitioning from prototype development to commercial operations.  Examine the technical, regulatory, and operational lessons from China’s breakthrough and explore how these can inform European certification strategies.

• Understand the certification pathway that enabled EHang to achieve type certification and airworthiness approval under CAAC standards, including the technical and regulatory criteria involved.
  

• Compare and contrast global regulatory frameworks by identifying the key differences between CAAC, FAA, and EASA certification approaches, and evaluate how these divergences impact international harmonisation for eVTOL aircraft.
  

• Assess the requirements for commercial deployment of eVTOL operations, including safety-case development, operational readiness, and integration with supporting infrastructure in China’s first approved passenger flights.
  

• Identify the primary scaling challenges faced by Western regulators and industry, and analyse what the U.S. and Europe can learn from China’s progress to safely accelerate certification, foster innovation, and enable public acceptance and efficient airspace integration.

Security Testing in eVTOL: Dark Magic or Engineering Discipline?

Dr. Jürgen Dürrwang, Senior Security Expert, ITK Engineering GmbH

As eVTOL aircraft become increasingly software-defined, connected, and autonomous, cyber security is a direct flight safety and certification issue.

This session demystifies penetration testing, positioning it as a core engineering discipline within aviation safety rather than an opaque or purely adversarial activity. Using real-world examples from safety-critical domains, it shows how even highly regulated systems can be compromised through known and emerging attack vectors directly relevant to eVTOL platforms.

Explore vulnerabilities in aircraft systems, software and hardware supply chains, and airborne–ground communication links, while clearly distinguishing cyber security testing from functional safety testing under DO-178C and DO-254.

• Understand why cybersecurity is now a core flight-safety and certification requirement for eVTOL and AAM aircraft.
  

• Identify key attack vectors and vulnerabilities affecting connected and autonomous aviation systems.
  

• Recognize how software, hardware, and supply-chain complexity introduce cyber risks.
  

• Differentiate penetration testing from DO-178C / DO-254 safety testing and their respective roles.
  

• Learn how to integrate penetration testing into aviation cybersecurity risk management.
  

• Understand how expert analysis translates test findings into certifiable cyber-safety measures.

Solving the Weight–Efficiency–Reliability Trilemma in Electric Aviation Propulsion

Christian Grim, General Manager, Bosch Aviation Technology

Power electronics are a primary constraint, shaping aircraft weight, efficiency, thermal management, and system reliability. We will exemplify how automotive-proven silicon carbide (SiC) power electronics meet eVTOL’s uncompromising demands. High-power-density device architectures enable smaller, lighter inverters and converters, while reduced switching and conduction losses improve efficiency, extend range, and ease thermal constraints.  This session will map specific eVTOL challenges to the tangible benefits of this technology.

The presentation also addresses the safety and robustness requirements of aerospace applications, including short-circuit withstand capability and resilience to cosmic radiation. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of why next-generation SiC power devices are not an incremental upgrade, but a foundational enabler of certifiable, efficient, and commercially viable electric propulsion systems.

• Understand why power electronics now define the performance, weight, and certification viability of electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft.
  

• Recognise how high-power-density, high-efficiency device technologies directly translate into longer range, lower mass, and improved operating economics.
  

• Appreciate the importance of aviation-grade robustness and safety margins in enabling certifiable, reliable, and commercially scalable electric propulsion systems.

Solving the Weight–Efficiency–Reliability Trilemma in Electric Aviation Propulsion

Christian Grim, General Manager, Bosch Aviation Technology

Power electronics are a primary constraint, shaping aircraft weight, efficiency, thermal management, and system reliability. We will exemplify how automotive-proven silicon carbide (SiC) power electronics meet eVTOL’s uncompromising demands. High-power-density device architectures enable smaller, lighter inverters and converters, while reduced switching and conduction losses improve efficiency, extend range, and ease thermal constraints.  This session will map specific eVTOL challenges to the tangible benefits of this technology.

The presentation also addresses the safety and robustness requirements of aerospace applications, including short-circuit withstand capability and resilience to cosmic radiation. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of why next-generation SiC power devices are not an incremental upgrade, but a foundational enabler of certifiable, efficient, and commercially viable electric propulsion systems.

• Understand why power electronics now define the performance, weight, and certification viability of electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft.
  

• Recognise how high-power-density, high-efficiency device technologies directly translate into longer range, lower mass, and improved operating economics.
  

• Appreciate the importance of aviation-grade robustness and safety margins in enabling certifiable, reliable, and commercially scalable electric propulsion systems.

Volocopter Walk Around with

David Bausek, CTO, Volocopter

Standardising Software Development in a Multi-Variant eVTOL World

Tobias Domke, Senior Expert, ITK Engineering GmbH

Software has become one of the industry’s greatest sources of risk—driving schedule delays, integration issues, rework, and certification uncertainty.

This session addresses the growing challenge of scaling software development across complex, safety-critical, and highly configurable eVTOL platforms. Drawing on experience from aerospace, UAV, and defence programmes, it shows how fragmented toolchains, manual processes, and inconsistent environments limit speed and reliability, particularly as software content, autonomy, and update frequency increase.

Learn how a Software Factory approach, supported by advanced virtualization, can replace ad-hoc development with structured, repeatable, and certifiable software pipelines. Tackle the real-world obstacles to adoption—including integration complexity, resource constraints, and organisational change;  how eVTOL developers can regain control of software delivery, reduce risk, and support certification, long-term maintainability, and fleet-scale deployment.

• Understand why software delivery has become a critical risk factor for eVTOL programmes, impacting integration, schedules, and certification readiness.
  

• Recognise the limitations of fragmented and manual development approaches as software scope, autonomy, and update frequency increase.
  

• Identify how a Software Factory approach enables repeatable, traceable, and certifiable software delivery without undermining regulatory intent.
  

• Learn where software industrialisation intersects with certification frameworks, including DO-178C, tool qualification, configuration management, and continued airworthiness.
  

• Assess how virtualization and automation can be applied responsibly to support certification, long-term maintainability, and fleet-scale operations.

Designing and Certifying Flight-Critical Actuation Systems for Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

Dr. Klaus Schneider, Chief Technology Officer, Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS

Flight-control actuation is one of the most safety-critical and technically demanding systems—directly affecting controllability, redundancy, reliability, and certification outcomes.

Attendees will gain insight into how next-generation eVTOL programs are engineering certifiable electric actuation systems for autonomous aircraft. The session details how modular EMA architectures are being transformed to meet strict weight, integration, and reliability requirements, while supporting advanced configurations such as tilt-rotors and distributed propulsion.

Discussion points include the integration of actuation with avionics and flight-control systems, the implementation of built-in redundancy to meet stringent safety objectives, and the role of early supplier–OEM collaboration in supporting certification, scalability, and entry into full-rate production. The session also provides insight into how industrialisation and supply-chain readiness are being addressed alongside development and certification—an increasingly critical consideration as eVTOL programmes move toward fleet deployment.

• Actuation system requirements for autonomous, all-electric eVTOL aircraft
  

• Electro-mechanical vs. hydraulic architectures in next-generation flight control
  

• Managing redundancy, fault tolerance, and safety objectives for certification
  

• Integration of actuation with avionics and flight-control systems
  

• Adapting modular, certifiable flight-control technologies to eVTOL constraints
  

• Supplier–OEM collaboration across development, certification, and scaled production
  

• Industrialisation and manufacturing considerations for flight-critical systems

The Battery Breakthrough eVTOL is Waiting For: Silicon Anodes in Solid-State Cells

Dr. Jun Sik Jeoung, Senior Scientific Advisor for Commercialization & Cell Development, NEO Battery Materials

Battery technology remains one of the primary limiting factors for eVTOL and electric aircraft—constraining range, payload, safety margins, and certification viability. As conventional lithium-ion chemistries approach practical limits, solid-state batteries incorporating advanced silicon anode materials are emerging as a credible pathway to higher performance.

The presentation examines how silicon-based anodes can significantly increase energy density while enabling the enhanced safety and weight reduction required for aviation applications. It addresses the core materials challenges associated with silicon, including volume expansion, mechanical stability, and interfacial degradation, and how these issues are being managed within solid-state battery architectures.

The discussion also considers the implications for electric aviation, including improvements in specific energy, thermal safety, and pack-level design, alongside the remaining technical and manufacturing hurdles that must be overcome before solid-state, silicon-anode batteries can support certifiable eVTOL platforms. 

Leave with a realistic understanding of technology readiness, achievable performance gains, and how this innovation could reshape aircraft-level design trade-offs in the next generation of electric flight.

• Understand where solid-state architectures offer meaningful advantages.
  

• Learn how advanced silicon anode materials enable higher energy density and weight reduction, and why this matters at the aircraft and system level.
  

• Recognise the key material and interface challenges associated with silicon anodes, including volume expansion and long-term stability.
  

• Assess the safety and thermal implications of solid-state, silicon-based batteries in comparison to conventional liquid-electrolyte cells.
  

• Evaluate the readiness, scalability, and certification considerations for deploying silicon-anode solid-state batteries in future eVTOL platforms.

AAM Use Cases, Operational Constraints, and Infrastructure Integration

Tomáš Kapoun, Chief Engineer, Zuri

Real-world missions—regional passenger routes, airport-bypass operations, and cargo logistics—now determine many of the technical choices behind AAM aircraft. The presentation links these operational requirements to propulsion architecture, energy systems, performance trade-offs, and infrastructure integration, providing a clear view of how mission-driven design is essential for scalable and certifiable eVTOL and hybrid-electric aircraft.

• Translate Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) use cases into concrete aircraft performance and systems requirements, ensuring alignment between mission needs and technical architecture.
  

• Differentiate between regional and urban mission profiles and understand how each drives distinct design decisions across range, speed, payload, and operating environment.
  

• Evaluate propulsion and energy-system trade-offs based on mission-driven demands for range, payload capability, efficiency, and operational margins.
  

• Recognize key infrastructure constraints—including airports, vertiports, ground energy supply, and turnaround logistics—and how they influence aircraft configuration and operational planning.
  

• Understand the gap between operational assumptions and certification or safety requirements, and how these factors shape viable aircraft architectures.
  

• Learn how to design aircraft for scalable, repeatable commercial operations, moving beyond demonstration models to systems capable of sustained, real-world service.

Noise Compliance to Public Acceptance: Measuring and Managing the Acoustic Impact of eVTOL Operations

Lars G. Winberg, Business Development Manager – Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, GRAS Sound & Vibration (Axiometrix Group)

As propulsion, autonomy, and performance advance, noise remains the factor that will determine whether eVTOL aircraft can be accepted and certified for urban operations. This session highlights the crucial role of accurate, repeatable acoustic measurement in meeting regulatory requirements and building public trust.

The presentation covers recent progress in eVTOL noise testing—including the NASA-collaborated 67AX microphone configuration—and shows how real-world data is shaping emerging standards such as ISO 5305:2024. Drawing on active test campaigns with leading OEMs, it illustrates how robust measurement frameworks are already influencing aircraft design and operational concepts.

• Identify eVTOL-specific challenges in noise testing, including variability in flight profiles, propulsion configurations, and data consistency.
  

• Learn how the 67AX microphone configuration is developed and applied to capture high-fidelity acoustic data for emerging eVTOL platforms.
  

• Examine how acoustic datasets are shaping ISO 5305:2024 and upcoming global noise-measurement standards, influencing certification pathways.
  

• Draw insights from NASA-led eVTOL noise test campaigns, including methodologies, test-range design, and public communication strategies.
  

• Understand how technology, regulation, and societal expectations must be aligned to enable acceptable, certifiable, and scalable eVTOL operations.

From Demonstrators to Deployable Infrastructure: What Real Vertiports Are Teaching Europe About AAM

Damian Kysely, Head of Infrastructure, Europe & Middle East, Skyports

Vertiports are one of the most complex and underestimated elements of the AAM ecosystem, requiring seamless integration of energy systems, passenger flows, airspace procedures, autonomy, and community acceptance—often within tight urban constraints.

Drawing on Skyports’ global portfolio of operational sites and testbeds, this session outlines what it takes to move vertiports from concept to deployable infrastructure. Case studies include the Dubai vertiport network; the Paris terminal testbed with Groupe ADP; the Skyports–Joby “zero-wait” Living Lab; London Heliport technology trials; and the Singapore prototype developed with Volocopter. It also highlights Skyports’ work with Wisk on autonomous eVTOL Concepts of Operation.

Together, these examples show how vertiport design, operations, regulation, and technology must evolve in parallel to support scalable, certifiable AAM across Europe.

• What real vertiport deployments reveal about design, operations, and regulation
  

• Lessons from European and global vertiport testbeds
  

• Passenger experience, turnaround time, and “zero-wait” operations
  

• Integrating vertiports with existing urban and airport infrastructure
  

• Preparing vertiports for autonomous eVTOL operations
  

• What Europe must solve to move from pilots to networks

Regional AAM Readiness: Real-World Deployment Planning

Robert Kamp, CEO & Senior Partner, Ambitious Air Mobility Group

Europe’s eVTOL and AAM sector has reached a point where technology alone is no longer the deciding factor for entry into service. Success now depends equally on investment strategy, industrial execution, and ecosystem coordination. The Ambitious Air Mobility Group represents a new model in Europe—combining capital, aerospace expertise, and infrastructure planning to accelerate hybrid-electric VTOL development and bridge the gap between concept and deployable solutions.

This session explores how strategic investment models and cross-industry partnerships can speed certification, preserve critical engineering capability, and enable the infrastructure and fleet scale required for commercial AAM. It also considers how Europe’s broader aerospace industrial policy, asset consolidation, and international collaboration can complement regulatory progress and operational deployment.

Attendees will gain insight into investment-driven acceleration strategies, industrial coordination, and the role of private-public partnerships in shaping Europe’s emerging AAM ecosystem.

• Understand why new industry investment models are becoming essential to achieving certification, production readiness, and commercial deployment in Advanced Air Mobility.
  

• Examine how preserving and redeploying European aerospace expertise—including lessons from recent interest in Lilium’s assets—supports engineering continuity and accelerates programme execution.
  

• Learn how effective alignment of capital, engineering talent, and infrastructure strategy enables scalable, commercially viable AAM ecosystems.
  

• Identify the role of industrial partnerships in connecting R&D, certification, and operational deployment, reducing programme risk and improving time-to-market.
  

• Evaluate the broader implications for Europe’s supply chain, regulatory harmonisation, and global competitiveness as AAM transitions from concept to industrialisation.

Industry Exchange Lunch

Next-Generation Thermal & Material Solutions for Safe, High-Performance eVTOL Propulsion and Energy Systems

Bret A. Trimmer, Applications Engineering Manager, Neograf Solutions

As eVTOL platforms push the limits of energy density, power density, and safety, thermal management and advanced materials have shifted from “component support” to design enablers. Poor thermal control not only limits battery performance and life, but directly impacts certification risk, safety margins, mission reliability, and overall aircraft weight — making thermal solutions a system-level architecture challenge rather than an afterthought.

• Understand the thermal, structural, and flame-retardant advantages of advanced graphite and graphene-infused materials, and their relevance to eVTOL and electric aviation applications.
  

• Identify application-specific material solutions for eVTOL battery packs, heat spreaders, and high-power electrical components, and how they address performance and safety requirements.
  

• Learn integration strategies for managing thermal loads in power electronics, BMS interfaces, and other flight-critical electrical systems.
  

• Evaluate how material choices impact weight, safety certification, and lifecycle performance, particularly under the high-duty cycles expected in urban and regional AAM operations.
  

• Gain practical insights from collaborative research and real-world aerospace use cases, understanding the criteria that influence material adoption in aviation programs.

Protecting the Electric Aircraft: Battery Coatings, Fire Protection and Lightning Strike Materials for eVTOL Systems

Protecting battery systems, composite structures, and high-voltage components from thermal events, electrical faults, environmental exposure, and lightning is essential for safe, lightweight eVTOL designs. This session outlines how advanced aerospace coatings and materials are being applied at the cell, module, pack, and airframe level to meet these challenges.

Topics include battery coatings for insulation, thermal stability, corrosion resistance, and fire containment; lightning-strike protection for composite airframes; dielectric solutions for high-voltage systems; and material strategies for EMI/RFI control and thermal propagation mitigation. The session highlights how traditional aerospace material technologies are being adapted for electric vertical flight to support manufacturability, certification, and long-term durability.

• Understand the functions and benefits of battery coatings for cells, modules, and packs in eVTOL applications, including insulation, thermal stability, and protection.
  

• Learn fire-protection and containment strategies for mitigating thermal events in battery systems.
  

• Examine lightning-strike protection approaches for composite eVTOL airframes and their certification implications.
  

• Identify dielectric and insulation material requirements for high-voltage electric propulsion and power distribution systems.
  

• Understand how to manage EMI/RFI, static discharge, and electrical safety within tightly integrated eVTOL architectures.
  

• Evaluate material trade-offs involving weight, protection level, performance, manufacturability, and certification constraints.
  

• Recognize how aerospace-grade coatings and materials must be adapted to the unique manufacturing, operational, and lifecycle demands of eVTOL aircraft.

The Hydrogen Advantage: Range, Utilisation, and Economics for Next-Gen eVTOLs

Dr. Chris Dudfield, Chief Technology Officer, Intelligent Energy

Battery-electric eVTOLs face clear limits in range, utilisation, and operating cost. This session explores how hydrogen PEM fuel cells can overcome these constraints, drawing on modelling and case studies from the IE-FLIGHT programme. It outlines how fuel-cell architectures enable 2–5× range extension, rapid refuelling, and consistent performance across wide temperature ranges.

Key focus areas include thermal management and transient power response—critical challenges during hover and high-power phases—and how evaporatively cooled PEM systems reduce thermal-system size, drag, and mass while improving responsiveness and allowing smaller hybrid batteries.

The session also compares total cost of ownership between battery-electric and hydrogen-electric eVTOLs, highlighting utilisation, component life, and downtime advantages. Supply-chain, recyclability, and certification implications are discussed as hydrogen-electric aircraft move toward service entry.

• Understand the energy-density and range limitations of battery-electric eVTOL architectures and how they constrain commercial operations.
  

• Learn how hydrogen PEM fuel cells function as primary or hybrid power sources, and their potential advantages for next-generation eVTOLs.
  

• Examine thermal-management challenges during hover, climb, and other high-power phases of flight.
  

• Assess transient power response requirements and how they influence battery sizing, hybridisation strategies, and overall system stability.
  

• Compare refuelling time versus charging time and evaluate the impact on operational utilisation and fleet efficiency.
  

• Analyse total cost of ownership (TCO) differences between battery-electric and hydrogen-electric eVTOLs, particularly for high-frequency commercial operations.
  

• Consider environmental performance, recyclability, and lifecycle implications of hydrogen-electric versus battery-electric architectures.

Hybrid-Electric VTOL for Real Missions: Sizing, Safety & Operations with the STERNA Pack

Thibault Baldivia, Co-founder & CCO, Ascendance

This session provides a technical deep dive into the ATEA + STERNA hybrid-electric architecture, showing how power-split control, generator–battery sizing, and thermal management enable true VTOL capability with regional-range performance. It explores how fan-in-wing and ducted-prop configurations influence transition control, acoustic behaviour, and overall efficiency—and how operational economics, multi-mission flexibility, and rapid turnaround times translate into lower fuel burn, reduced direct operating costs, and quieter operations.

• Understand how hybrid-electric power-split architectures operate, including generator–battery sizing, peak-power management, and degradation/failure logic, and how these factors influence VTOL performance, cruise efficiency, and safety margins.
  

• Learn how fan-in-wing and ducted-rotor aerodynamics affect transition control, shaping control laws from hover through wing-borne flight and enabling strategies to mitigate inlet/exit losses.
  

• Examine thermal-management requirements for hybrid VTOL operations, mapping burst and cruise heat loads to cooling-system design, HV isolation, fire-protection zoning, and certification-relevant safety cases.
  

• Evaluate mission economics across passenger, EMS, and cargo operations, including 15-minute turnaround feasibility, payload–range trade-offs, and direct operating-cost comparisons with rotorcraft.

• Interpret noise signatures and operational profiles to identify practical levers for reducing tonal content, improving community acceptance, and meeting acoustic constraints.
  

• Understand the certification pathway for hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, including how iron-bird, rig, and flight-test evidence supports compliance across propulsion, energy, and system safety.

How eVTOL Is Forcing a Reset in Avionics Certification Thinking

Lukas Hamm-Riff, Accountable Manager EASA Part 21G & Part 145, AEE

This session addresses why traditional federated avionics architectures struggle to scale in the eVTOL environment, and how new approaches are emerging to meet the demands of vertical flight. It examines the implications of high channel counts, redundancy management, power distribution, data bandwidth, and fault tolerance in aircraft that rely heavily on software for stability, control, and safety.

The presentation will explore how avionics must evolve to support fly-by-wire flight control, autonomy roadmaps, integrated vehicle health monitoring, and certification to the highest Design Assurance Levels, while remaining manufacturable and maintainable at scale. IWhy conventional avionics architectures break down in eVTOL aircraft

• Identify the avionics challenges introduced by distributed electric propulsion, including coordination of multiple thrust channels and increased system complexity.
  

• Understand how redundancy, fault tolerance, and DAL A safety requirements must be engineered into eVTOL avionics architectures.
  

• Evaluate power, thermal, and weight constraints that arise in avionics-dense electric aircraft and how they influence system and hardware design.
  

• Explore the role of software-defined avionics and how increasing automation is reshaping flight controls, vehicle management, and system integration.
  

• Recognize key certification considerations for novel avionics architectures, and how they differ from traditional approaches rooted in legacy aircraft designs.

Translating Certified Aircraft into Real, Operable Routes and Infrastructure

Andreas Fürlinger, Founder and CEO, APELEON

A clear gap is emerging between aircraft readiness and the realities of deploying eVTOL operations in Europe. Infrastructure, land-use rules, airspace constraints, and local planning approvals are proving far harder to resolve than the aircraft itself.

This session explores the technical and regulatory barriers to real-world deployment, drawing on APELEON’s work in vertiport and heliport planning, site assessments, and urban integration. It shows how infrastructure constraints shape route viability, utilisation, noise exposure, safety cases, and commercial feasibility.

Key blockers—zoning and permitting, obstacle limitation surfaces, protected airspace, integration with existing airports and heliports, energy supply, and ground-access limitations—are examined to explain why early assumptions about “plug-and-play” vertiports rarely hold in Europe. Attendees will gain clarity on why infrastructure must be engineered in parallel with aircraft and operations for eVTOL services to scale.

• Understand why infrastructure has become the primary bottleneck for eVTOL deployment in Europe, surpassing many aircraft-side challenges.
  

• Learn how to translate aircraft performance into practical, approvable routes, considering regulatory, environmental, and operational constraints.
  

• Compare vertiports and heliports and evaluate how each integrates with existing aviation and ground infrastructure.
  

• Recognize land-use, zoning, and permitting limitations that affect urban and regional site selection across Europe.
  

• Assess airspace structures, obstacle limitations, and safety-case requirements that influence vertiport feasibility and placement.
  

• Identify misalignments between infrastructure readiness and aircraft certification timelines, and understand how they impact commercial deployment.

Afternoon Networking

An Operator’s Reality Check on eVTOL

Dave Stepanek, Executive VP & Chief Transformation Officer, Bristow Group

Most agendas are dominated by OEMs, suppliers, and infrastructure players, but lack the voice of operators who fly daily missions and manage dispatch reliability, training, maintenance, weather exposure, and safety cases. Bristow fills this gap.

Bristow Group brings the operator reality check the eVTOL industry needs. As a global helicopter operator with deep experience in offshore, SAR, EMS, and mission-critical operations, Bristow understands what it takes to run aircraft safely, reliably, and at scale. Their active evaluation of eVTOL and hybrid-electric aircraft gives them unique credibility to speak about operational readiness, safety culture, and fleet transition realities—including what will and won’t work in real-world service.

The session addresses the practical realities OEMs must design for, including duty cycles, turnaround times, weather exposure, redundancy expectations, maintenance burden, and integration into existing operational models. It also explores what a credible fleet transition from helicopters to eVTOL or hybrid VTOL looks like, and where current assumptions may fall short.

Attendees will gain a clear understanding of what operators will actually buy, certify, and fly—and why operator input must shape aircraft design, certification strategy, and deployment timelines.

• Understand the gap between one-off eVTOL demonstrations and the realities of continuous daily operations, including operational, regulatory, and logistical constraints.
  

• Learn the dispatch reliability, duty-cycle expectations, and utilisation requirements that commercial operators must meet to run viable eVTOL services.
  

• Recognize the role of safety culture and operational risk management in enabling scalable and certifiable eVTOL flight operations.
  

• Assess the training, maintenance, and MRO implications of operating electric and hybrid-electric aircraft at commercial frequency.
  

• Identify what operators need from OEMs—in design, documentation, support, and data—to transition from prototypes to fleet operations.
  

• Evaluate where current eVTOL assumptions diverge from real-world operational needs, and how these gaps must be resolved for commercial success.

Managing Risk, Capital, and Certification in eVTOL Programmes

Mark Eldridge, Chief Engineer, Vertical Aerospace

The gap between early eVTOL demonstrations and certifiable, commercially viable aircraft is now clear. Rapid timelines have given way to regulatory discipline, engineering execution, capital control, and the challenge of surviving the certification process.

This session uses Vertical Aerospace as one of Europe’s most relevant case studies. It highlights the company’s shift from ambition-driven development to certification-focused execution, drawing on its resumed VX4 flight-test campaigns, UK CAA Permit to Fly, and restructuring of design, supply chain, and programme priorities to align with UK CAA and EASA expectations.

The discussion examines where OEM assumptions often diverge from regulatory reality, the balance between innovation and certification discipline, the risks of supplier dependency, and the importance of capital management in long-duration aerospace programmes. Vertical’s experience provides constructive, hard-earned lessons for OEMs, suppliers, regulators, and investors navigating the next phase of eVTOL development in Europe.

• Understand the shift from demonstration flights to certification-driven flight testing, and what this transition requires in practice.
  

• Learn key lessons from obtaining a UK CAA Permit to Fly, including technical, regulatory, and organisational prerequisites.
  

• Navigate the differences and expectations within EASA and CAA certification frameworks as they apply to eVTOL aircraft.
  

• Recognize how aircraft design, supply-chain choices, and programme structure must align with certification requirements to avoid delays and redesign cycles.
  

• Assess strategies for managing programme risk, timelines, and capital discipline under the constraints of a formal regulatory process.
  

• Identify where early eVTOL assumptions commonly fail, and understand corrective approaches that improve certifiability and programme resilience.

Operational Proof-of-Concept: From Aircraft to Ecosystem

James Dorris, CEO & Co-Founder, Odys Aviation

The real challenge for AAM is integrating advanced aircraft into a full, certifiable ecosystem that includes regulators, infrastructure, operators, and real mission profiles. This session highlights one of the most comprehensive operational proof-of-concept programmes in the sector: Odys Aviation’s partnership with the Oman Civil Aviation Authority and Ministry of Transport.

It explores how hybrid VTOL aircraft are being tested within a complete AAM framework—regulation, infrastructure, operations, and risk assessment—using ICAO, JARUS, and SORA methodologies to enable live operations. The session also outlines Odys Aviation’s progression from prototype development to full-scale proof testing and commercial launch, supported by its recent $26M Series A, and shows how hybrid propulsion, autonomy, and aircraft performance are being validated through operational demonstration rather than theoretical certification routes.

Finally, it examines the growing role of dual-use regional mobility, with Odys’ hybrid VTOL designs serving cargo, passenger, EMS, and defence missions. Case studies show how multi-mission capability improves utilisation, resilience, and commercial viability. Together, these insights provide a blueprint for moving eVTOL and hybrid VTOL aircraft from isolated demos to real operations—and lessons for Europe as it pursues sandboxing and ecosystem integration.

• Understand how to build an end-to-end AAM ecosystem that integrates aircraft technology, regulatory frameworks, infrastructure, and operational concepts.
  

• Learn how hybrid VTOL deployments are executed within ICAO, JARUS, and SORA frameworks, and what these methodologies require in practice.
  

• Examine the transition from prototype development to full-scale proof-of-operation, including hybrid VTOL testing and validation at aircraft scale.
  

• Explore certification strategies that rely on operational demonstration, linking technical maturity directly to deployability.
  

• Recognize the engineering considerations of integrating hybrid propulsion into a VTOL aircraft, including performance, safety, and scalability.
  

• Assess dual-use regional mobility applications—cargo, medevac, defence, and civilian connectivity—and their impact on utilisation and commercial viability.
  

• Identify lessons from Oman’s AAM programme and how they can inform European regulatory sandboxes and early deployment models.

A Pragmatic, Near-Term Path to Electric Flight: Lessons from Low-Complexity Electric Aircraft

Lucas Marchesini, Co-Founder, CEO & CTO, MANTA Aircraft

A critical industry question is emerging: what electric aircraft can realistically reach entry-into-service first?

This session presents a pragmatic perspective from the light electric aircraft segment, where certification pathways are shorter, architectures are simpler, and regulatory engagement is already underway within European CS-23 frameworks. Drawing on real development experience, the presentation examines how designing for certifiability—rather than maximum performance—changes aircraft architecture, system integration, and programme risk.

The session highlights what larger eVTOL programmes often underestimate about system complexity, redundancy, avionics scope, and organisational readiness, and identifies which lessons from low-complexity electric aircraft do and do not translate to SC-VTOL platforms. It also positions light electric aircraft as stepping stones—providing early operational data on batteries, charging, maintenance, and pilot training that will inform the broader eVTOL ecosystem.

• Understand why low-complexity electric aircraft are likely to reach entry-into-service sooner and what this reveals about near-term pathways to electric flight.
  

• Learn how designing for certifiability—rather than maximum performance—shapes aircraft architecture, system integration, and programme risk, particularly under CS-23 frameworks.
  

• Identify the system-level challenges that larger eVTOL programmes often underestimate, including redundancy requirements, avionics complexity, and organisational readiness.
  

• Evaluate which lessons from light electric aircraft development translate to eVTOL/SC-VTOL programmes, and where the limits of comparability lie.
  

• Explore how early operations of light electric aircraft can generate valuable data on batteries, charging cycles, maintenance, environmental exposure, and pilot training that supports broader eVTOL deployment.
  

• Recognize the strategic role of low-complexity aircraft as stepping stones for regulators, operators, and OEMs as the industry progresses toward more complex electric VTOL platforms.

Learning to Be an eVTOL Operator — At Scale

Jeremy Akel, Group Chief Executive Officer, Omni Helicopters International

This session examines how an established offshore helicopter operator is using charter, fractional, and per-seat helicopter operations as a live proxy for future eVTOL services, generating revenue, customer insight, and operational data today—well before aircraft certification.

Through its Brazilian subsidiary and Revo-branded air mobility platform, Omni is already running real-world urban air taxi trials in São Paulo, validating routes, pricing, customer behaviour, vertiport logistics, and digital UTM workflows ahead of planned eVTOL entry with Eve Air Mobility aircraft from 2027 onward.

For European OEMs, operators, regulators, airports, and investors, this model offers one of the clearest, least-hyped examples of how the eVTOL business case may actually be proven.

• How to launch urban air mobility without waiting for certification

• How to collect regulator-ready operational data in live environments

• How to design eVTOL networks around real passenger behaviour, not forecasts

• Why established aviation operators may be Europe’s strongest eVTOL adopters

From Ground Operations to Certification: Lessons in Delivering Safe and Scalable BVLOS eVTOL Cargo Missions

Chen Rosen, CTO, AIR

As the eVTOL ecosystem matures, the operational and certification frameworks for cargo missions are advancing rapidly. Beyond the technical milestones of aircraft design, the successful delivery of eVTOL cargo services requires seamless integration of ground crews, robust BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operational protocols, and innovative approaches to aircraft certification.

Drawing on real-world case studies, this session will explore how operators are integrating human factors on the ground, what lessons have been learned in early cargo delivery programs, and how the pathway of certifying eVTOLs as Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) offers new opportunities for market entry.

• Ground Crew Integration: Training, procedures, and communication protocols to ensure safe BVLOS cargo operations.

• Operational Lessons Learned: Practical insights from delivering eVTOL aircraft and conducting real-world cargo missions.

• Certification Strategies: The potential of Light Sport Aircraft classification as a stepping stone for eVTOL certification and commercialization.

• Safety and Scalability: How BVLOS operations, ground infrastructure, and certification frameworks combine to support safe scaling of eVTOL cargo missions.

• Industry Roadmap: Aligning operational experience with regulatory progress to accelerate cargo eVTOL deployment.

Multicopter Use Cases, Global Regulatory Challenges & the Importance of Government Advocacy

Rohit Wariyar, eVTOL Business Development & Public Affairs, SkyDrive

Europe risks losing momentum to regions where governments are actively enabling multicopter deployment, such as China, the UAE, and Brazil. While multicopters are on track to become the first eVTOL category to enter commercial service—thanks to simpler architectures and shorter certification pathways—Europe’s fragmented regulatory environment and still-emerging AAM policy frameworks threaten to slow adoption.

With dense urban environments, stringent land-use rules, and high political scrutiny, Europe faces unique public-acceptance and planning challenges that require strong government advocacy from the outset. Meanwhile, operators, ANSPs, and vertiport developers urgently need regulatory clarity to make investment and infrastructure decisions.

This session explains why now is a critical moment for Europe to align policy, regulation, and industry if it intends to compete in the early phases of the global multicopter market.

• Understand the leading multicopter use cases globally, and how early operational deployments abroad can inform European strategies.

• Identify the regulatory differences between CAAC, EASA, and FAA systems, and how these impact certification, operational approval, and cross-border scalability.

• Evaluate the role of government advocacy and national-level AAM policy, including why city-level initiatives are insufficient on their own.

• Learn how regulatory fragmentation, public-acceptance pressures, and urban-planning constraints create deployment barriers unique to the European market.

• Assess how coordinated government–industry collaboration can accelerate adoption, improve airspace integration, and unlock early commercial use cases.

• Understand the strategic implications for OEMs, operators, and infrastructure providers, including where Europe must adapt to remain competitive globally.

MOSAIC, Part 23 & the Future of Light eVTOL Certification: What New U.S. Rules Really Mean for Europe

Michael Thompson, Founder and CEO, Skyfly Technologies Ltd

The FAA’s MOSAIC (Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification) rulemaking represents the most significant change to U.S. light aircraft certification in decades—and its implications for small, lightweight eVTOLs and electric aircraft are profound.

While much of the eVTOL industry remains focused on large, Part 21/SC-VTOL certified aircraft, MOSAIC opens a parallel, faster, and potentially lower-cost pathway for electric and hybrid aircraft operating below traditional transport-category thresholds.

This session explains what MOSAIC actually changes, who it benefits, and how it could reshape the first wave of commercial eVTOL operations, particularly for light aircraft, special missions, training, regional mobility, and early market entry.

For European OEMs, regulators, and investors, understanding MOSAIC is essential—not because Europe will copy it directly, but because it reshapes competitive timelines, capital efficiency, and go-to-market strategies globally.

• Explain how the FAA’s MOSAIC rule changes certification pathways for light and small eVTOL aircraft, including expanded Part 23 performance envelopes.
  

• Distinguish between regulatory timelines for light eVTOLs versus larger SC-VTOL aircraft, and understand why smaller platforms may enter service significantly earlier.
  

• Assess the competitive impact of U.S.–European regulatory asymmetry, including implications for early operations, pilot training, and commercial viability.
  

• Apply MOSAIC insights to near-term investment, partnership, and fleet-planning decisions, identifying which aircraft classes are most likely to fly first—and under what rules.

Chair’s Closing Remarks

Drinks and Fork Buffet Reception