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CityAirbus NextGen makes public debut ahead of maiden flight

Airbus presented its full electric CityAirbus NextGen prototype to the public, ahead of its maiden flight later this year. The two-tonne class CityAirbus, with a wing span of approximately 12 metres, is being developed to fly with a 80 km range and to reach a cruise speed of 120 km/h. Airbus says this make the aircraft platform well suited for operations in major cities for a variety of missions.

The new CityAirbus test centre in Donauwörth, Germany, will be dedicated to testing systems for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. (Photo: Christian Keller, Airbus)

The unveiling coincided with the opening of the new CityAirbus test centre in Donauwörth, Germany, which will be dedicated to testing systems for electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). The centre began its operations with the CityAirbus NextGen’s power-on in December 2023 and it will be now used for the remaining tests required before the prototype’s maiden flight later in the year. These tests cover the electric motors with their eight rotors as well as the aircraft’s other systems such as flight controls and avionics.

“Rolling out CityAirbus NextGen for the very first time is an important and very real step that we are taking towards advanced air mobility and our future product and market. Thank you to our community, team and partners all over the world for helping us make this a reality,” said Balkiz Sarihan, Head of Urban Air Mobility at Airbus.

Airbus recently signed a partnership agreement with LCI to focus on the development of partnership scenarios and business models in three core AAM areas: strategy, commercialization and financing.