It's been a tough year for air taxi startups. The British company Vertical Aerospace is running out of money, while the German company Lillium is facing bankruptcy. The goals for commercialization continue to expand. Investors are reluctant to get involved.
The reason for all the fighting is pretty simple. Building, certifying and commercializing brand new aircraft designs such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) is complex, notoriously expensive and depends on lengthy regulatory processes.
That's partly why German startup Vaeridion is pursuing a simpler, potentially cheaper route to electric flight with an aircraft it calls a “microliner.”
“The Microliner looks like a normal airplane and takes off from a runway – The The only difference is that it runs on batteries,” said Vaeridion’s co-founder and CEO. Ivor van Dartel told TNW. “For operators and passengers, the experience will be essentially the same. Similar to what Tesla did for cars, only for airplanes.”
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Today, Vaeridion announced that it has entered into a Pre Application Contract (PAC) with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), marking a major step towards commercial flights.
Think of this contract as a dress rehearsal for aircraft certification. Before a company can officially apply for approval to fly its aircraft (called type certification), this contract allows it to discuss the process with regulators, get feedback on its design and plans, and identify potential hurdles.
EASA's pre-application service was launched last year. Vaeridion said it was the first general aviation manufacturer to win a contract under the program.
Vaeridion's technical manager, Markus Kochs Kämper, called it “a huge milestone” in the development of its Microliner. “This initiative allows us to de-risk our core technology and path to certification of our electric aircraft before submitting a type certificate application,” he told TNW.
Van Dartel and Sebastian Seemann – both former Airbus and ZF engineers – togetherfounded Vaeridion in 2021. Their vision was to build an electric aircraft to replace jet aircraft on short-haul and regional flights.
Preliminary tests put the Microliner's range at around 500 km, the company said. In 2022 aAccordingly, almost a third of flights in the EU covered this distance or less Eurocontrol. And it's twice as much as most eVTOL startups advertise.
From London to Amsterdam? From Berlin to Munich? Madrid to Lisbon? No problem.
Equipped with a single propeller in the nose, the Microliner can achieve this range despite a rather modest charge of batteries housed in the wings for better weight distribution. The aircraft's design was inspired by gliders, whose aerodynamic shape minimizes drag and increases efficiency.
Vaeridion's design is similar to existing regional aircraft, which could reduce development and manufacturing costs compared to more experimental eVTOL models, which often require complicated propulsion systems and vertical lift capabilities.
Vaeridion plans to fly its first prototype in 2027. The company wants this first iteration to be fully compliant with EASA's type certificate requirements. That means it doesn't have to be that way also build an expensive demonstration aircraft. Vaeridion will make a prototype, get it certified and then it will be ready for useThe first commercial flights are planned for 2030.
By leveraging established aviation technologies and infrastructure, Vaeridion's microliner could position itself as a more attainable and scalable option for regional air travel than some of the more extravagant designs on the market. Nonetheless, the company will still need significant funds to fuel its growth, which Van Dartel says is on the horizon – although one should be careful not to spread too much.
Vaeridion plans to build the aircraft from the ground up and sell them directly to customers. The company also expects to generate ongoing revenue through the regular replacement of aircraft batteries. Each upgrade takes advantage of newer battery chemistry, meaning the aircraft's range will increase over time.
With an estimated seat price range between 150 and 300 euros, the Microliner is aimed at business people who want to travel in style and comfort.
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