Air Taxi Company Makes First Flight Test; Production Vehicle

Air taxi developer Beta Technologies has completed the first flight of its production line electric aerial vehicle (EAV) 

The Beta Alia CTOL (conventional takeoff and landing) electric vehicle was manufactured at the Beta production facility in Burlington, Vermont.

A multipurpose special airworthiness certificate for experimental research and development was granted to Beta by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following its inspection of the EAV.

The one-hour test flight this week was conducted by Beta founder and CEO Kyle Clark, who is also a test pilot. 

The flight included takeoff, climbing to 7,000 feet, “handling qualities evaluation, stability and control test points and initial airspeed expansion prior to flying several approaches and a normal landing,” according to the company.   

“This start of our production CX300 flight test campaign is a result of years of hard work and focus on studying customer requirements, hard engineering, manufacturing, production, quality and test,” said Clark. “It represents a significant milestone for Beta and is the beginning of an exciting new phase for the business. With this, we’re one step closer to putting this technology into the hands of our customers.  

“We learned a lot from this first production build. We weren’t just building an aircraft company, we were building and refining a system to build high-quality aircraft efficiently. This first build allowed the team to collect data and insight on manufacturing labor, tooling design, processes, yields and sequences, all of which are being used to refine our production systems.” 

Related:Flying Taxi Company Unveils 5-Passenger Vehicle

Many EAVs are eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing), which do not require traditional runways, since they take off and land straight up and down.

Beta recently raised $318 million in a series C equity round, bringing the total raised to more than $1 billion.

The funding was led by QIA, one of Beta’s largest investors, along with Fidelity Management and Research Company, TPG Rise Climate and United Therapeutics.

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The new funding is aimed at propelling certification of the Beta Alia EAV and electric motors and supporting the ramp-up of production and delivery of flying vehicles and chargers, according to the company. 

The passenger-carrying EAV would be used for intra-city and regional transportation.

Beta recently received an order for 20 of its EAVs from Metro Aviation, an air medical operator that operates in 27 states, which plans to use the flying vehicles for air medical operations.

Related:Flying Taxi Company Raises Another $318M; $1B Total

Metro plans to integrate the Alia into its fleet to increase access to rural and urban areas and to provide inter-hospital and scene transport.

The lower operational costs and increased utility are expected to allow eVTOL vehicles to offer better transport opportunities than current medical transportation methods.

Beta recently provided an early look at the passenger version of its fixed-wing VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing). Alia. 

The EAV is designed to carry five passengers and a pilot as well as carry-on luggage.

The passenger version of the EAV is expected to launch after the Beta cargo and medical versions, targeted for 2025.

Beta is also in the electric charging business, having installed aircraft electric charging stations at Eglin Air Force Base to service the electric flying vehicle there. 

Beta also added electric charging stations for ground and EAVs at Tallahassee International Airport, Gainesville Regional Airport and Bob Sikes Airport.

Beta has added more than 35 charging stations along the east, west and gulf coasts with each Florida installation including a level three fast charger located inside the fence, known as airside, for use by EAVs and electric airport ground vehicles, and a level two charger outside the fence, known as landside, for ground EVs.

Related:Flying Taxi Company Selling 20 Vehicles for Air Medical Operations

Beta chargers have been purchased by Archer Aviation, Atlantic Aviation, Signature Aviation, AvFlight, and the Department of Defense.

Beta is also installing charging stations outside Florida in partnership with airports and other partners across the U.S. 

Beta recently won a $20 million federal contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to install EAV chargers in rural areas along the East and Gulf coasts.

The contract would allow Beta to build charging stations to enable an emergency preparedness platform for the federal department to establish a cost-effective network to deliver equipment, pharmaceuticals and patients, even in remote areas.

Beta recently received a $2.6 million grant from the state of Michigan to help scale advanced air mobility (AAM) which came via Michigan’s AAM Activation Fund to create a centralized pipeline of projects to drive AAM growth in the state. 

Late last year, Beta was granted $20 million from the Clinton County from Empire State Development’s Regional Economic and Community Assistance Program in New York to expand its operations at Plattsburgh International Airport.

The new facility is intended to become the manufacturing and final assembly hub for Beta’s EAV and to create a permanent flight test and delivery center, for final flight testing, vehicle painting and customer delivery.

In addition to the new order from Metro Aviation, Beta has orders for its flying vehicles from UPS, United Therapeutics, which is also an investor, and Bristow and has contracts with the U.S. Air Force and Army.

Blade ordered up to 20 of Beta EAV in 2021 and LCI has announced it will be using Beta flying vehicles to move guests at the Aria Hotels in Greece. Helijet has placed an order for four eVTOLs for cargo and passenger missions. 

Beta was also approved for a $169 million loan to finance its net-zero final assembly production facility from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

The 188,500-square-foot manufacturing facility opened in 2023 at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, where Beta plans to build its eVTOL and CTOL (conventional takeoff and landing) vehicles.

The new production facility, on a 40-acre site at the airport, could ultimately produce 300 EAVs a year, according to the company.

Beta has partnered with AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force that leverages the Air Force Research Laboratory for this program.

Vertiport facilities to manage the takeoff, landing, charging and maintenance of such vehicles are being established by companies such as Florida-based Aeroauto Global, which is also developing retail showrooms for flying vehicle sales.