Melbourne, Australia, September 2, 2021 – Eve Urban Air Mobility, an Embraer spinoff, and Microflite, one of Australia’s premier helicopter operators, today announced a partnership that will lay the foundation for urban air mobility operations in Australia that is expected to start in 2026.
Microflite and Eve plan to begin their partnership using helicopters, where appropriate, as a proof of concept to validate parameters that will apply to future electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations, also known in the market as EVA (Electrical Vertical Aircraft). This partnership also aims to develop new services and procedures that will create a safe and scalable operating environment for EVA operations together with communities and other industry stakeholders.
Microflite has worked with Eve since 2019 by contributing to the Concept of Operations developed jointly between Eve and Airservices Australia. This work laid the foundation for exploring new and practical concepts to safely facilitate the introduction of air taxis using Melbourne, Australia.
“This partnership is an exciting development for Microflite. Australia needs a post-COVID lift and what better way to do that than by developing high-tech and low carbon jobs that support transport, tourism, and the vibrancy of this wonderful country. Microflite will work closely with Eve and its partners to evaluate the best path to bring this innovative service to customers,” said Jonathan Booth, CEO of Microflite.
“Our partnership with Microflite allows Eve to inject innovation and new mobility solutions within the Australian market. We can deliver a comprehensive solution, including maintenance services and air traffic management, getting ready to introduce our aircraft to Australia, while benefiting from Microflite’s extensive local operational experience,” said Andre Stein, President & CEO of Eve Urban Air Mobility.
Follow Embraer on Twitter: @Embraer
About Microflite
Microflite Helicopter Services operates the largest fleet of turbine helicopters in Victoria, with premium tours, charter flights, airwork applications, pilot training, and aircraft services. These iconic red aircraft have become a familiar sight in the skies over Melbourne and its surroundings. Founded in the year 2000, Microflite has become a highly-respected, industry-leading operation with an exemplary history of safety and service.
About Eve Urban Air Mobility, LLC
Eve is a new, independent company dedicated to accelerating the global Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem. Benefitting from a startup mindset, backed by Embraer’s more than 50-year history of aerospace expertise, its singular focus takes a comprehensive approach to the UAM industry by providing a holistic ecosystem. Its advanced electric vertical aircraft (EVA) coupled with its comprehensive global services and support network, and a unique air traffic management solution make it a serious contender in this space. Eve is the first company to graduate from EmbraerX. For more information, visit www.eveairmobility.com.
Follow Eve on Twitter: @EveAirMobility
About Embraer
A global aerospace company headquartered in Brazil, Embraer has businesses in Commercial and Executive Aviation, Defense & Security, and Agricultural Aviation. The company designs, develop, manufactures, and markets aircraft and systems, providing Services and Support to customer after-sales.
Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. On average, about every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure
This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements represent Microflite (the “Company”) current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “project,” or “continue,” or other similar words. These statements are made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, reflect management’s current views with respect to future events, and therefore are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, such forward-looking statements include statements regarding the capabilities, development, certification, marketing, and future operations of Eve Urban Air Mobility, LLC (“Eve”) electric vertical aircraft (“EVA”), the Company’s purchase of aircraft from Eve, and the anticipated benefits of the collaboration between the Company and Eve. The Company’s actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements.
The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to provide any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which the forward-looking statement is based that occur after the date hereof. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because the matters they describe are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Our forward-looking statements are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of the date hereof. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these matters or how they may affect us. We have included important factors in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 (the “Annual Report”) which we believe over time, could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ from the anticipated results, performance or achievements that are expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. You should consider all risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Annual Report and in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), all of which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
