State of eVTOL
Q2 2026
The quarterly proprietary report on demand, certification, and route activity from evtol.travel.
Free to cite with attribution and an active link. As of April 30, 2026.
Executive summary — three things that moved
The headline findings any journalist can quote.
Type certificates issued worldwide held at 3 — but Joby cleared FAA Stage 5 TIA with the first FAA-conforming aircraft in flight, putting the US on track for a 4th type certificate before year-end.
FAA's eIPP program named six US cohort cities (NYC, LA, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Tampa Bay), turning a federal pilot framework into a hard launch map. Archer appears in 3 of the 6 cohort slots — more than any other operator.
evtol.travel tracked 12,400+ verified route-interest signups across 51 cities in Q2, a 38% MoM growth rate. Dubai, NYC, and LA cleared the 500-passenger launch-ready threshold for the first time.
Key stats teaser
Snapshot of the metrics covered in the full report. Numbers are frozen as of 4/30/2026 for citation stability — they will not drift after publish.
EHang EH216-S (CAAC, 2023), AutoFlight Prosperity I (CAAC, 2024), Volocopter VoloCity (EASA validation pending). Joby S4 expected to be #4 by end of 2026.
Across 51 cities. Top corridor: JFK ↔ Manhattan.
Across 23 countries. United States (32), United Arab Emirates (9), and China (6) lead.
NYC, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Tampa Bay.
Chart preview — top 10 demand cities (Q2 2026)
Verified route-interest signups across eVTOL.Travel. Full top-20 in the PDF. Live data also available at /demand.
Certification tracker — what moved this quarter
Quarter-over-quarter delta on each major program. Full details in the PDF; live status at /evtol-certification-tracker.
Stage 5 TIA reached; first FAA-conforming aircraft in flight (March 2026). On track for type cert mid-2026.
Hit 100% FAA Means of Compliance acceptance — an industry first. Type cert targeted late 2026.
Conformity inspections advancing; selected for FAA eIPP. IPO completed Nov 2025 funding the runway.
2,700+ global commitments; Revo (50) and AirX (50) added new binding orders.
Full delta on all 8 tracked programs in the downloadable PDF.
evtol.travel, State of eVTOL Q2 2026, April 2026, https://evtol.travel/press/reports/q2-2026
When citing in print or broadcast, please credit eVTOL.Travel. When citing online, please link to evtol.travel/press/reports/q2-2026.
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