Mitsui & Co.

Global Strategic Studies Institute Monthly Report June 2018

Major companies that are involved in this field include Airbus (Europe), Boeing (US), and Bell Helicopter Textron
(US). In addition to utilizing the strengths of their aircraft manufacturing technologies and existing supply chains,
these companies aim to secure their positions in the mobility services market where changes, including the
diversification of players, are rapidly unfolding.

Airbus is developing a one-seater called “Vahana” and a four-seater named “City Airbus”. For Vahana, the
company succeeded in conducting the first flight of a prototype in 2018, and in February 2019, the report of
successful vertical take-off and landing and level flight achieved during a test flight that lasted approximately 7
minutes became open to public. The electronic parts company MAGicALL(US) supplies the motor, one of the
crucial components for this aircraft. As for the City Airbus, it has been reported that the first successful flight
was realized in May 2019. The company aims to commercialize Vahana and City Airbus by 2020 and 2023,
respectively. Airbus has set its sights on not only eVTOL aircraft sales but also on business development
throughout the value chain, such as for related services using eVTOL. The company is collaborating with the
US company Voom, which has been providing on-demand helicopter taxi services (air taxis) mainly in Brazil's
urban areas since 2017, to establish a business base for air traffic systems in urban areas. Voom is expected
to launch its service in Shenzhen, China, in 2019, and based on this, Airbus plans to introduce an air taxi using
eVTOL in Shenzhen from the mid-2020s. In addition, the company has partnered with the German automaker
Audi to study the concept of seamless connecting of air and land mobility from a long-term perspective. The
concept, called “Pop.Up Next,” is an innovative idea of modularizing the passenger cabin in the form of a
container and transferring it between the aircraft’s hovering rotor section and the wheelbase section on the
ground (Fig. 4).