Horizon Aircraft poll ranks air taxis fourth in early eVTOL use

Maker of both hybrid and entirely electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) airplanes, Horizon Aircraft has revealed research on what backers of new craft development expect in the early phases of operation, which ranks much-anticipated air taxi services surprisingly low on that list.

Toronto area-based Horizon solicited responses from the kind of private equity and venture capital executives who are funding next-generation aircraft development about when and how they expect eVTOL and other advanced air mobility vehicles to come into operation. Only 14% of those said air taxi passenger transport would be a top early application. 

Those views contrast communications from companies working toward craft certification and launch – and much media coverage of them – which tends to focus on looming passenger services for relatively short flights above other applications.

Instead, Horizon found 27% of financial sector investors and observers…