eVTOLInternationalNews

Airbus to pause CityAirbus NextGen programme, citing battery technology limitations

Airbus Helicopters is set to pause its CityAirbus NextGen electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) demonstrator programme later this year.

The company stated that battery technology needs further advancement before it can move forward with a full urban air mobility (UAM) programme.

In a briefing statement to journalists, Airbus said it had decided to postpone the launch of a UAM programme as part of its ongoing strategic review. 

However, development testing of the CityAirbus prototype will continue throughout 2025 before the project is put on hold.

“Our investment in UAM over the last 10 years has been instrumental to advancing our understanding of technologies that are relevant across the Airbus portfolio, in distributed propulsion, energy storage, battery management, etc.,” the company said. 

“As we’ve always said, the development of a viable UAM economy is dependent on many factors, and today we still see some of the key technologies that need to continue to evolve.”

Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even echoed this sentiment during a recent briefing on the company’s 2024 performance. 

“We learned a lot with CityAirbus NextGen, and our ten years of investment in the urban air mobility prototype has been clearly instrumental to advance our understanding of technologies which are not only relevant for this urban mobility market, but for all our portfolio and across the Airbus portfolio,” he said.

The decision to pause the programme reflects the broader challenges facing the emerging UAM sector, where advancements in battery efficiency, energy storage, and propulsion systems remain critical to achieving commercial viability.

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