News eVTOL
Airbus, Ecocopter collaboration for urban air mobility in Chile, Ecuador and Peru

Airbus and Ecocopter signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start collaborating on the launch of urban air mobility services across various countries in Latin America. Airbus describes this deal as a major step toward the co-creation of a functioning urban air mobility ecosystem in the region.

With this agreement, the partners will explore and define launch scenarios for air mobility operations, notably in Ecuador, Chile and Peru. This includes joint activities to develop UAM operations over the continent, as well as ways to target first use cases and pilot cities and regions. This partnership is an expansion of the manufacturer’s relationship with Ecocopter, which operates a fleet primarily comprised of Airbus helicopters for aerial work missions in a variety of industrial sectors.

“With already 20 years of experience operating helicopters and five years operating drones, this partnership is a natural step for us,” said Marcelo Rajchman, Ecocopter’s Corporate CEO. “We seek to be a relevant player in the UAM ecosystem and the projects we will develop together with Airbus will bring us closer to this goal.”

Established in 2003, Airbus explains Ecocopter is a reference in highly complex aerial work missions in South America. Its fleet of Airbus helicopters consists of 16 H125s, two H135s, and three H145s for work in offshore transport, mining support, medical evacuation, firefighting, and almost the entire range of aerial missions.

In September 2021, Airbus unveiled its eVTOL prototype CityAirbus NextGen, to explore advanced air mobility technologies and bring urban air mobility services to life. With an operational range of 80 km and a cruise speed of 120 km/h, it is being developed to be suited for a range of deployments in urban areas and beyond.