DONAUWORTH, Germany - Airbus has presented its fullly electric CityAirbus NextGen prototype to the public, ahead of its maiden flight later this year. The CityAirbus, with a wing span of approximately 40 feet, is being developed to fly with a 50-mile range and to reach a cruise speed of 75 MPH, making it suited for operations in major cities for a variety of missions.
The unveiling coincided with the opening of the new CityAirbus test center in Donauwörth, Germany, which will be dedicated to testing systems for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). The center, which is part of Airbus’ investment in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), began its operations with the CityAirbus NextGen’s power-on in December 2023 and it will be now used for the remaining tests required before the prototype’s maiden flight later in the year. These tests cover the electric motors with their eight rotors and the aircraft’s other systems such as flight controls and avionics.
Sound levels are a key factor for an urban mission; Airbus' experience in noise-friendly designs is driving CityAirbus' sound levels below 65 dB(A) during fly-over and below 70 dB(A) during landing. It is optimized for hover and cruise efficiency, while not requiring moving surfaces or tilting parts during transition.
Related: Airbus and Spirit AeroSystems to develop the wings of CityAirbus NextGen
“Rolling out CityAirbus NextGen for the very first time is an important and very real step that we are taking towards advanced air mobility and our future product and market. Thank you to our community, team and partners all over the world for helping us make this a reality,” said Balkiz Sarihan, Head of Urban Air Mobility at Airbus.
At the same time, Airbus is expanding its global network and partnerships to create a unique ecosystem that will foster a successful and viable AAM market. Airbus recently signed a partnership agreement with LCI, a leading aviation company, to focus on the development of partnership scenarios and business models in three core AAM areas: strategy, commercialization, and financing.
