I suppose it was inevitable that after more than 70 years, Helicopter Association International would rebrand, seeking to wrap a friendly arm around the ever-expanding throngs of urban air mobility groundbreakers. And so under the fresh moniker of Vertical Aviation International it will next year organise an event which has evolved from Heli-Expo to VertiCon.

VAI says that by embracing all vertical flight aircraft as part of one united industry, it believes that it can increase the power of its advocacy. But exactly how much common ground do helicopters and air mobility systems share?

At the moment, not much. But the lower noise profile of the new systems, along with reduced ground infrastructure requirements and promised unmatched safety, will tempt city authorities to allow AMS 'bus stops' in places where heliports would never have been countenanced. This may also open up more opportunities for the conventional charter helicopter (or at least its future electric-powered cousin) to gain greater access, and new markets.

The association, and the industry more generally, is clearly preparing for the future. As mainstream helicopter manufacturers dip their toes into the complicated business of electric powertrains (as they surely all are) and AMS grows more capable, then the gap will narrow. And if it looks like a helicopter and flies like a helicopter, then it's a helicopter. So I'll put my money on future generations quite naturally referring to all the new vertical vehicles quite simply as helicopters.

As an aside, you'd have thought that VAI would want to avoid the massive headache of changing internet domain names - rotor.org could surely serve long into the future - but no. It plans to launch a new website, verticalavi.org, this summer, and we'll be fascinated to see the new industry integration codified into one portal.

Because for now the gap remains. Here at Business Air News we organise the Air Charter Expo at Biggin Hill each year (see advert on page 2), and always welcome a number of helicopter operators to meet the crowds of charter broker buyers. So far though we have been less successful in attracting the advanced air mobility fraternity to join us, even though mainstream helicopter operators have already signed up for significant numbers of their machines. We hope VAI is right, it is time to bring all this together, and we look forward to playing our part too.