With several debuts, electric planes to dominate 54th Paris Air Show

Paris Air Show returns after four-year hiatus, showcasing advancements in sustainable aviation for a greener future

The 54th edition of Paris Air Show, a bi-annual event, said to be the largest aviation event in the world, will open its doors on June 19, marking a return after a gap of four years due to a hiatus forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

And as the visitors will see, a lot has transpired in the intervening four years since the 53rd Air Show ended on June 23, 2019. And one of the biggest changes will be seen in sustainability and the preparedness of the global aviation industry towards development of sustainable aviation alternatives, in order to cut its carbon emissions and meet the targets set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which calls for a cut by as much as 70 pc in global emissions within a few decades.

Sustainable aviation at the heart

In 2019, sustainable aviation seemed more of a topic to be discussed inside the conference rooms and in session halls, with the industry per-se having little to show for what it had done or was doing to become a responsible global citizen.

Certainly, many companies, if not all, announced their visions and targets, which were mainly fuzzy plans on drawing boards. However, come 2023 and a whole host of companies from across the globe are set to showcase their latest gizmos, their response to the battle against climate change. These range from electric-powered planes to solar airplanes, passing through some hybrids, too.

Here are some of innovative companies and their products that visitors at the Air Show can look forward to :

Eve Air Mobility

Eve Air Mobility debuts in Paris, unveiling its revolutionary electric aircraft for urban transportation

Eve Air Mobility, the subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer, will make its first appearance in Paris after becoming a public company. Eve Air Mobility will come to Paris after a highly successful year that including the industry’s largest order backlog of 2,770 planes for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, strong interest and a growing number of customers purchasing its Urban Air Traffic Management (Urban ATM) software and a comprehensive portfolio of agnostic services and operations solutions.

“The Paris Air Show brings together aviation’s global players and showcases the biggest news and the latest advances in the aerospace sector. Eve comes to Paris with tremendous momentum as we continue the development of our eVTOL, including progressing toward key programme milestones,” says Andre Stein, co-CEO of Eve.

The company says that its eVTOL cabin mock-up will make its first appearance in Paris as part of a world tour that began last Summer at the Farnborough Air Show. The mock-up showcases Eve’s human-centered design, a quiet, efficient, and sustainable zero-emission eVTOL, and explores its internal features. The vehicle design uses a conventional wing with eight rotors fixed around it, providing vertical take-off and landing capabilities in a simple lift-plus-cruise design, with an accessible seat configuration for a pilot and four passengers, it says.

Visitors to Eve’s display will also be able to experience a virtual flight on its eVTOL aircraft through virtual reality technology. The technology, which requires a special headset, enables them to have a unique sense of reality by interacting with and feeling what flying on the company’s eVTOL will look like, says the company.

VoltAero

VoltAero will showcase its Cassio 330 at Le Bourget

French aviation startup VoltAero will unveil its first airplane, Cassio, which the company says is a truly unique general aviation airplane with patented electric-hybrid propulsion for safe, quiet, efficient and eco-friendly flight.

VoltAero says that Cassio 330 is the first in a family of all-new aircraft with seating capacity of between 5 and 12. The company says that its airplanes are tailored for applications that include air taxi or charter commercial flights, utilities like cargo, postal delivery or medical evacuation. The company says that all its aircraft share significant commonality as the result of VoltAero’s modular design strategy.

SolarStratos

SolarStratos’ solar-powered aircraft, HB-SXA, takes flight at Paris Airshow for stratospheric scientific exploration.

Swiss startup SolarStratos will display its eponymous solar-powered aircraft that will be used mainly for scientific exploration of the upper atmosphere or stratosphere. The company will showcase HB-SXA, which also undertake its maiden flight in the French capital during the airshow.

AutoFlight

Next-Gen eVTOL that will be showcased at Paris Air Show is said to be a pioneering leap in electric aviation.

Chinese startup AutoFlight will showcase what it calls is its Next-Gen electric Vertical Take Off & Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Prosperity I, at Le Bourget during the Air Show. Founded by Chinese engineer Tian Yu, who has been pioneering electric aircraft development since 1999, well before the rest of the world even thought of it as a solution for commercial aviation.

According to AutoFlight, Tian’s companies have produced more than 10 million electric power airplanes and he himself is an expert in electric aircraft design, obtained more than 300 related patents.

In Paris, AutoFlight will unveil Prosperity I, which it says possesses unparalleled technological performance and the longest eVTOL’s flight on record. AutoFlight says it leads the future of sustainable mobility. It will also display full interior design of the cabin. Prosperity I is essentially an AirTaxi which offers safe, quiet, and affordable urban air mobility solutions.

AutoFlight says it is one of only a few eVTOL OEMs to have mastered the challenging ‘transition phase’ from vertical to horizontal flight and have done so hundreds of times, paving the way for sustainable, efficient, and reliable logistics and passenger transportation systems. It says that Paris Air Show will serve as a global platform for AutoFlight to showcase the capabilities and advancements of Prosperity I. The aircraft has already undertaken world’s longest eVTOL flight in February, covering a distance of 250 km on a single charge.

‘‘We are excited to present to the world Prosperity I at the 2023 Paris Air Show and showcase the remarkable progress we have achieved in the field of electric vertical take-off and landing. We are seeing strong interest from eVTOL flight operators for both the cargo and passenger versions of the aircraft. This event will allow us to share our vision of safe, efficient, and sustainable urban air mobility with a global audience,’’ says Tian.