Eve Air Mobility’s Vector software managed landing and takeoff slots at the temporary helipad serving São Paulo’s Interlagos Circuit during the motorsport weekend there, with traffic peaking at more than 100 helicopter flights on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Revo, the São Paulo helicopter operator that Eve calls its first electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft customer, ran the system at the event for the second year in a row.

In a press release distributed on November 13, 2026, Eve, an Embraer Group company, said Revo’s team used Vector at the helipad set up at the Ayrton Senna Kart Track, next to the circuit, for scheduling and slot management of landings and takeoffs. Eve described the event as the largest international motorsport event, and said the software had been tested at the same event in 2025.

What Vector did at Interlagos

Vector is Eve’s urban air traffic management software. According to the release, it is built on a modular architecture, with Helipad and Vertiport (Aerodrome) and Ground Operations modules that let operators manage high-volume activity across vertiports and helipads. Eve said the software is designed to provide safe and efficient low-altitude air traffic management through automation and data-driven services, and said it represents a new step toward automated, scalable traffic management for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) in Brazil and worldwide.

Eve said its team supported Revo’s operational staff throughout the weekend so that operations ran smoothly, effectively and “100% safely” across all three days of the event. The release does not give a total number of flights for the weekend or the number of helicopters involved; the only traffic figure is the peak of more than 100 flights on the Sunday.

Johann Bordais, chief executive of Eve Air Mobility, tied the result to the weekend’s traffic:

“The efficient use of Vector over a weekend that concentrates one of the highest volumes of helicopter traffic in Brazil throughout the year demonstrates the full maturity of our solutions for the urban mobility ecosystem.”

Bordais added that Revo will be Eve’s first eVTOL customer in Brazil and globally. João Welsh, chief executive of Revo, said the partnership with Eve “represents a major step in this direction,” both for bringing eVTOLs into Revo’s operations and for developing urban air traffic management solutions.

How the 2026 deployment compares with 2025

This was not Vector’s first outing at the circuit. On November 10, 2025, Eve announced the software’s first real-world deployment, with Revo, during the 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix. Revo’s team used Vector from November 7 to 9 that year to manage helicopter operations at the Interlagos racetrack, after training by Eve’s TechCare and Vector teams. Eve said at the time that future Vector operations were planned at other sites, including residential and commercial hubs.

The product description has moved since then. In November 2025, Eve listed a Vertiport and Ground Operations Module and said a Fleet Operations Module for helicopter and eVTOL operators was planned for 2026. The November 2026 release lists separate Helipad and Vertiport (Aerodrome) and Ground Operations modules and gives 2027 for the Fleet Operations Module. The release does not explain the change in timing. Eve says the fleet module will address the needs of helicopter and eVTOL operators as Urban Air Mobility networks expand.

The Revo contract behind the partnership

Revo is part of Omni Helicopters International (OHI), which, according to the November 2026 release, manages a fleet of approximately 90 helicopters and operates over 1,500 weekly flights. In a release dated June 15, 2025, Eve announced its first binding framework agreement with Revo and OHI, covering up to 50 eVTOLs, entry-into-service support and aftermarket services, including Eve’s TechCare package. Eve’s release for that deal was headed as a $250M contract, and the earlier work between the companies had included simulations of urban air traffic management using Vector.

The June 2025 release named Revo as launch operator for Eve’s eVTOLs in São Paulo, with first delivery planned for Q4 2027, and said the city has over 400 registered helicopters and nearly 2,000 daily takeoffs and landings. The November 2026 release says Revo is positioned to operate the technology in Brazil starting in 2028.

Where Eve’s eVTOL program stands

Eve reports a backlog of over 2,700 aircraft, including firm orders and letters of intent, across 28 customers in 10 countries. It has completed more than 73 flights since its flight test campaign began in 2025, after more than 10,000 hours of integrated ground testing. On August 3, 2026, Eve announced its first partial transition flight, in which the prototype’s rear pusher propeller was activated in the air for the first time and the aircraft reached a stabilized speed of 27 knots.

Eve plans to build six certification prototypes for a certification campaign starting in 2027, working with Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the FAA. Once the aircraft is certified, and through the end of 2028, it will be built at a facility under development in Taubaté, São Paulo, with initial capacity of up to 120 aircraft per year and room to expand to up to 480 aircraft annually.

SkyDrive has taken new investment from Tobu Railway Co. Ltd. and Tobu Top Tours Co. Ltd., making the Tobu Group its fifth Japanese railway partner and giving the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developer a base for vertiports, ticketing and tour packages in the Kanto region around Tokyo ahead of the commercial services it plans for 2028.

SkyDrive announced the funding, made through a third-party share allotment, in a press release dated November 12, 2026, from Toyota City, Japan. The company did not disclose the amount. The partners say they aim to speed up commercial eVTOL deployment in Kanto by combining Tobu Group’s transportation and tourism assets with SkyDrive’s aircraft development and operational expertise.

What each Tobu company brings

The release sets out three areas of work. Tobu Railway will use its rail network, regional presence and tourism assets, especially in the Nikko area, to establish and promote vertiports. The partners will also use Tobu Railway’s “SAKULaLa” common biometric authentication platform, which Tobu Railway developed jointly with Hitachi, Ltd., for identity verification and boarding pass clearance.

Tobu Top Tours will act as an operational connector, using its destination management expertise and municipal networks to design new business models and to package secondary transport. The partnership covers business development and ground infrastructure planning across Kanto.

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, founder and CEO of SkyDrive, said the company is “thrilled and deeply encouraged that Tobu Railway and Tobu Top Tours share our vision for the future.” He said eVTOLs need more than aircraft, namely connections to transit networks, vertiports and regional travel experiences, and that SkyDrive and the Tobu Group “will work toward launching commercial services in 2028 to make air mobility a daily choice.”

A rail-first network strategy

SkyDrive has built its domestic plans around railway operators, working with major Japanese railway companies on urban networks that combine train travel with eVTOL flights. Before Tobu, SkyDrive had partnership agreements with four railway companies, each tied to specific routes: Kintetsu Group Holdings in the Ise-Shima area; Osaka Metro, with its “Osaka Diamond Route” linking four key locations in Osaka; East Japan Railway Company (JR East), for routes between Morioka and AZUMA FARM KOIWAI; and Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu), in Oita Prefecture, including the Beppu and Yufuin hot spring areas. SkyDrive says it has worked with these operators on feasibility studies and flight demonstrations.

In October 2025, ahead of the Japan Mobility Show 2025 in Tokyo, SkyDrive announced an exhibit built around a boardable mockup of its SD-05 aircraft, entered through a touch-and-go automatic ticket gate, alongside panels showing planned flight routes. The company said at the time that the aim of the railway partnerships was convenient travel combining rail and urban air mobility, along with regional development and public acceptance of the technology. The Tobu agreement brings that model to Kanto.

Where SkyDrive stands

SkyDrive, based in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, began testing eVTOL prototypes in 2014 and was incorporated in 2018. In 2019, it says, it became the first company in Japan to fly a crewed eVTOL. It flew uncrewed demonstration flights at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and says it is now working through certification steps toward type certification. It is commercializing with local partners and municipalities in 10 countries.

Manufacturing rests on an automotive partnership. SkyDrive and Suzuki Motor Company signed a commercial and technology partnership in March 2022, SkyDrive set up the manufacturing subsidiary SkyWorks in September 2023, and production began in March 2024 at a Suzuki Group plant in Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Suzuki has also invested in SkyDrive and supports its business development in India, and Naoki Ishii, Representative Director and Executive Vice President of Suzuki, was appointed an independent SkyDrive director.

The Tobu funding is one of several announcements SkyDrive has made since late October 2026. Its news page lists a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six Singapore technology companies on advanced air mobility research and development on October 29, 2026, and an MOU with Goyang Special City and Verty on commercial eVTOL deployment in South Korea on November 4, 2026. In Kanto, the Tobu partnership is meant to support SkyDrive’s 2028 service plans for the SD-05.

Natilus has commissioned Composites Universal Group to build the carbon fiber wings for the full-scale prototype of KONA, its blended-wing-body (BWB) regional freighter, with delivery to Natilus promised in spring 2027. The San Diego company said the wings will then go through coupon, bond joint and limit load testing before the aircraft’s full-scale demonstration flight.

Natilus announced the contract in a press release dated November 11, 2026. The wing build follows the U.S. Air Force’s recent $3.5 million in research and development funding to accelerate KONA toward full-scale flight testing, and the company calls the contract a vital step in bringing KONA to market for cargo and defense applications.

A conventional wing for an unconventional aircraft

Composites Universal Group, which has worked with Airbus Defense & Space, Boeing, Archer Aviation and SpaceX, will build the wing at its Oregon facility. It has set up a streamlined tooling process that Natilus says is meant to reduce costs and speed up the timeline.

The two companies say they will reuse existing engineering, emulating traditional tube-and-wing production such as the Beechcraft King Air series at Textron Aviation and other certified transport and cargo aircraft. KONA’s wing uses a conventional spar-and-rib layout, the same basic structure flown on certified aircraft for decades. It will use FAA-standard aerospace materials and a cable-and-pulley flight control system, and it will be a “dry” wing, meaning it carries no fuel tanks.

Where current wings are typically aluminum, the KONA wings will be carbon fiber, which Natilus says offers reduced corrosion rates and fatigue resistance over time. The design needs fewer parts and fasteners, cutting riveted panels and thousands of drilled holes. Combined with aerodynamic improvements and 40% additional payload capacity, Natilus says it is aiming for a de-risked, cost-effective aircraft.

Aleksey Matyushev, CEO of Natilus, said KONA’s blended wing “may look different than any plane on the market today,” but that the wing build uses off-the-shelf technology. He said the company is committed to meeting the quality standards that freighter customers and the U.S. Air Force expect and require. Steve Ruege, co-founder, President and CEO of Composites Universal Group, pointed to his company’s experience building aircraft ranging from electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to unmanned systems.

Where the KONA programme stands

The wing contract is the latest step for a programme that has drawn both commercial and military interest. In October, AirPro News covered the Air Force award for KONA, which Natilus describes as funding for dual-use KONA aircraft for contested logistics.

When it announced its $28 million Series A round in February 2026, led by Draper Associates, Natilus said the money would finish the first full-scale KONA prototype, which it expected to fly within 24 months. The company described KONA as optionally piloted with a 3.8-ton payload, able to land on shorter, gravel runways and to support intra-theater lift, Agile Combat Employment and logistics resupply in the Indo-Pacific.

Natilus said in February that it is pursuing FAA Part 23, Amendment 64 certification for KONA and was choosing a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing site to build 60 KONA per year, with the first KONA due later this decade. It reported an order book of 570+ aircraft valued at $24 billion, with reservations from SpiceJet, Nolinor Aviation, Flexport and Ameriflight. The company, founded in 2016, also plans a passenger aircraft, HORIZON EVO, for the early 2030s.

Natilus says its aircraft use existing engine technology and vertical tails for control and stabilization, and are designed to work with current gate operations and airport infrastructure. In its company description, it claims a 30% reduction in fuel consumption, a 50% reduction in operational costs and a 40% increase in payload capacity. Its team includes people from Boeing, General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, Skunkworks, SpaceX and Piper Aircraft.

For prospective operators, the next milestones in the release are wing delivery in spring 2027, ground testing of the wings at Natilus’s San Diego hangar, and then the full-scale demonstration flight. Natilus did not disclose the value of the wing contract, and the release gives no date for the demonstration flight.