Spanish Electric Aircraft Manufacturer Secures Preorder in Australia
Crisalion will deliver 100 Integrity electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis to Australian operator Wilbur Air.
Crisalion Mobility, a Spanish manufacturer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, is taking its flagship design Down Under.
On Wednesday at the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K., the company announced it received a preorder for 100 Integrity air taxis from Australia’s Wilbur Air, a recently launched operating subsidiary of eVTOL infrastructure specialist Skyportz.
Skyportz has been developing a network of vertiports—akin to heliports but with electric chargers for eVTOL aircraft—to be built across Australia for the past half decade. Wilbur, which also has plans to fly U.S. manufacturer Electra’s hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft, will operate Crisalion’s Integrity across that network.
The zero-emission air taxi, designed to seat as many as five passengers plus a pilot, has an expected range of 80 sm (70 nm) when cruising at about 70 knots with a payload of around 880 pounds.
Its calling card is the company’s FlyFree propulsion system, which comprises 16 motors arranged in two arms on either side of the aircraft and running on lithium-ion batteries.
“Each arm can independently adjust its thrust vector in both pitch and roll, using the differential thrust of the motors,” Crisalion said.
The firm says the patented design is meant to boost stability across phases of flight, including in adverse weather.
Additionally, the aircraft’s interior can be configured to support passenger transport, aerial tourism, logistics, and emergency situations.
Crisalion expects to certify Integrity in 2028 ahead of a 2030 commercial rollout. Wednesday’s preorder agreement is the company’s first in the Australian market.
Skyportz on its website displays a large map of potential hubs in its planned vertiport network, which includes several locations in Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. Those markets may be the next to see Integrity fly under the partnership.
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