Aircraft

Autopilot has been around longer than you think – the first daredevil public demos happened back in 1914. But today's airliners still need pilots, and Airbus has only recently completed testing on the first autonomous taxi, takeoff and landing system.

An unmanned, solar-powered aircraft designed for high-altitude communications has edged closer to the real-world applications, with the HAPSMobile Sunglider successfully completing another round of flight testing in New Mexico.

So far, much of the development focus of China's EHang has been on providing air taxi and air tourism services, but now the air mobility company has launched a firefighting version of its two-person multi-rotor flying pod.

Aviation startup Boom Supersonic is pressing ahead with the development of its flagship supersonic aircraft, the Overture. These efforts have today received a significant shot in the arm, with the company announcing a new partnership with Rolls-Royce.

Airbus Helicopters' VSR700 unmanned aerial system (UAS) prototype has flown autonomously for the first time. At a drone test center near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, the pilotless rotorcraft performed a 10-minute free flight.

Although numerous companies are now developing "air taxis," many of those groups have nothing but renderings of their aircraft. Switzerland's Dufour Aerospace, however, recently completed the first phase of testing of a large-scale demonstrator.

At the best of times, the Boeing 747 is a costly plane to operate. When a pandemic causes passenger numbers to plummet, however, it can become unsustainable. It was with this in mind that British Airways has announced it's retiring its entire fleet.

Although we've heard about several proposed passenger-carrying eVTOL (electric vertical take off and landing) aircraft, many are still in the conceptual stage. Such is not the case with the Alia, though, which we're told is making daily test flights.

Airbus Helicopters' multi-role H160 helicopter has received type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and it is now expected to gain US FAA certification before commercial deliveries begin later this year.

Progress hasn't come as quickly as expected, but Skai remains committed to pioneering liquid hydrogen as a power source for its ultra-long range eVTOL air taxis, which will travel vastly longer distances than anything with a lithium battery system.

ZeroAvia says it has successfully completed the first-ever flight of a commercial-scale electric-powered aircraft in the UK. On June 22, the company's HyFlyer aircraft with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain took off from Cranfield Airport, Bedfordshire.

Airliners can make a lot of noise and use a lot of fuel when they're coming in for a landing. A new onboard computer system, however, was recently shown to be effective at addressing both problems.