FlyBlade India has placed a non-binding order of up to 200 eVTOL vehicles From Eve Air Mobility, along with service and support plus Eve's urban air traffic management (UATM) software solution. The companies also plan to collaborate on a three month pilot project connecting passengers using helicopters.

India is a unique market with its vast expanse, accessibility concerns, traffic congestion and regulations. As a pioneer of providing short haul air mobility services in India, Blade India will act as Eve's on-ground knowledge partner to create the UAM ecosystem. The data collected through Blade India's customer experience and operations will be used to further develop Eve's eVTOL, service and support solutions as well as its UATM software. Blade India will initially underwrite 50,000 hours of flight time per year using Eve's eVTOL across the country.

“India's traffic congestion woes are only expected to get worse. This partnership allows us to leverage Eve's deep expertise in not just electric vertical aircraft design but also in the infrastructure required to support UAM,” says Blade India managing director Amit Dutta.

“We are thrilled about partnering with Blade India and pioneering the urban air mobility market in the country, which has the potential to be one of the largest markets globally. This initial order will allow us to enter into service in India and further develop the ecosystem according to the community's needs. We look forward to offering the people of India a zero-emission UAM solution in the future that will be quiet, efficient and accessible,” adds Eve co-CEO André Stein.

Blade India is a joint venture between New Delhi-based privately held investment firm Hunch Ventures and Blade Air Mobility. It began in 2019 and offers cost-effective air transport to some of the most congested ground routes in India with flights from Mumbai, Shirdi, Pune, and Bangalore.

The emergence of electric aviation with eVTOL vehicles is expected to significantly reduce the carbon footprint, noise and cost of flying, making it more accessible to the masses.