The European investors who recently lost out to Archer Aviation in efforts to acquire the assets of Lilium have turned their attention to another VTOL aircraft start-up. On November 11, the Advanced Air Mobility Group announced that it has agreed to invest in Zuri’s plans to bring a multi-role hybrid-electric aircraft to market.

Germany’s Deutsche Aircraft plans to outsource the manufacturing of rear fuselages for its 40-passenger D328eco regional airliner to India. On November 6, the company announced a partnership with Bangalore-based Dynamatic Technologies covering production for the updated version of the Dornier 328 it is aiming to bring to market in 2028.

Kazakhstan has entered the advanced air mobility race with plans to introduce electric air taxi services using Joby Aviation’s four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. The California-based manufacturer has signed a letter of intent with Alatau Advance Air Group covering up to $250 million in eVTOL aircraft and services. 

MD Aircraft is pressing to close a Series A funding round to advance work on its 10-passenger MDA1 eViator electric regional airliner. If the German start-up can secure €5 million ($5.8 million) in fresh capital it will unlock a further €13.3 million in government funding to support work needed to achieve a first flight with a technology demonstrator in 2028.

The UK government-backed Aerospace Technology Institute has named the first three projects to be funded under its new Non-CO2 Programme, which will receive a combined £5.9 million ($7.7 million). The efforts to curtail emissions from sources other than carbon dioxide include contrail modeling and mitigation, the soot and particulate reduction from a specific fuel production pathway, and optimized sustainable aviation fuel allocation.

VerdeGo Aero’s ongoing work hybridizing an electrified rotorcraft has been awarded a Phase II contract under NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research fund. This follows the conclusion of Phase I, during which the hybrid powerplant systems developer successfully integrated its propulsion systems into an experimental Hummingbird 300L helicopter derivative.

Hydrogen-electric propulsion pioneer ZeroAvia is working with Hybrid Air Vehicles on the development of a zero-emission Airlander airship. Under a new partnership signed on November 6, the two companies said they will collaborate on an alternatively-propelled variant of HAV’s Airlander 10.