JAKARTA - Electric aircraft manufacturer Eve Holding Inc is on track to meet its target of starting commercial operations in 2026, an executive said on Friday, February 17.
According to Eve's vice president for fleet service and operations, Luiz Mauad, in an interview with Reuters, her closest target was to get certification for the plane.
Last year, Eve began the process of obtaining Brazilian civil aviation regulator certifications for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) that had obtained an order backlog of more than 2,700 orders before starting production.
"Entering service is certainly an important milestone, but before that comes certification. And certifying an airplane, even a traditional plane, has always been a big challenge," said Mauad ahead of the MRO Latin America event in Buenos Aires.
Mauad said Eve was confident about this " tough project", which is backed by Embraer's expertise. Eve plans to start operations by 2026 and already has the funds needed for the project, which was originally scheduled to cost around US$540 million (Rp8.1 trillion), after listing shares in the United States and additional funding from the Brazilian State Development Bank (BNDES).
Eve debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2022 after combining her business with Zanite Acquisition Corp, and managed to raise around $400 million to produce her flying taxis.
BNDES later announced that it would provide additional 490 million reais (Rp1.4 trillion) to Eve. Investors Eve includes United Airlines, Acciona SA, SkyWest Inc, Bradesco BBI, Rolls-Royce, Thales, and BAE Systems.
"We have a solid investment basis for making our projects, companies and products feasible," said Mauad, adding that Eve has also worked on solutions such as software for air traffic regulation.
"The investments we have collected give us the peace of mind to develop all these products until they are operational," he said. "Further investments may come if needed, but we are still in a very comfortable position."
McKinsey's consulting firm recently said that additional funding would be important to players in this sector this year. Eve's competitors include Joby Aviation Inc, Vertical Aerospace Ltd, Lilium NV, and Archer Aviation Inc. McKinsey in a report also hinted at possible consolidation, saying that mergers and business closures could occur
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