For a decade after the Wright Brothers’ 1903 flight, inventors, dreamers and entrepreneurs operating out of barns and sheds all over the world built radical prototypes to turn aviation from a dangerous hobby into a practical proposition.

Today, there’s a modern equivalent of that excitement in the electric vertical takeoff and landing space. The eVTOL industry has reached an important milestone, with the first commercial certification of a battery electric VTOL aircraft in China.

This summer’s Paris Olympics is expected to feature regular eVTOL service between Paris area airports, contingent on European aviation authority certification, which is expected. If successful, this may open the floodgates to low altitude, urban air mobility in cities worldwide. 

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