eVTOL air taxis in 2026: who is certified, who is flying and which launch dates slipped

Ten years of launch promises have produced one passenger-carrying eVTOL with a full type certificate, and it has no pilot. This guide sets out which certificate each of the 12 air taxis in our database holds as of October 2026, how the FAA, EASA, CAAC and other regulators approve these aircraft, and how published range, speed and seat figures compare. It also sets each maker's announced launch dates against what has actually happened.

Last checked 9 October 2026. Spec-based analysis from maker-published figures; we have not tested these robots hands-on.

The short answer

As of 9 October 2026, the EHang EH216-S is the only aircraft among our 12 records that holds a type certificate, a production certificate and operator certificates for carrying people. All three were issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). It flies without a pilot on board.

No piloted eVTOL air taxi in our database holds a type certificate from the FAA, EASA, the UK CAA, Brazil's ANAC or Japan's JCAB. Joby and Archer are the furthest along in the US. Both say they plan to carry their first passengers in 2026, through the federal eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) and in the UAE. Neither had announced paid passenger service by the date we checked.

Two of Europe's best-funded programmes failed. Volocopter went insolvent at the end of 2024 and was taken over by Diamond Aircraft, which is owned by China's Wanfeng group. Lilium's German operating companies filed for insolvency in October 2024. A rescue sale was signed and then, according to press reports, collapsed in February 2025.

How these aircraft get certified

An air taxi needs three separate approvals before it can sell a seat. The aircraft design needs a type certificate (TC). The factory needs a production certificate or approval, so each aircraft built matches that design. The operator needs an air operator certificate. Its pilots, if it has any, also need a licence or rating that covers the aircraft. Announcements often blur these steps. A "design organisation approval" certifies the company, not the aircraft.

United States: special-class powered-lift plus a pilot rule

The FAA has no standing airworthiness rulebook for powered-lift aircraft. It certifies each design as a special class under 14 CFR 21.17(b), with criteria written for that one aircraft. Joby's final criteria for its Model JAS4-1 were filed for publication on 8 March 2024. They describe a 4,800 lb maximum gross take-off weight, one pilot plus four passengers, and single-pilot day and night VFR operations under Parts 91 and 135. Our record cites Archer's filing, which says Midnight's final criteria were published in May 2024.

The pilot and operating side is a separate rule. The FAA's powered-lift final rule was published on 21 November 2024 and took effect on 21 January 2025. It created SFAR No. 120 as new 14 CFR Part 194. The SFAR lasts ten years and sets alternative ways to train the first powered-lift instructors and pilots. It requires a type rating for the pilot in command and applies airplane and helicopter operating rules to powered-lift. Every part of it assumes a pilot is on board.

In March 2026 the Department of Transportation and FAA selected eight state and local partners for the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. The FAA fact sheet says the programme "is not a mechanism to bypass certification requirements". It also says participating aircraft must already be in the formal type-certification process, and that the programme runs for three years from the first operational project. Texas held its first eIPP demonstration at Fort Worth on 10 September 2026.

Europe and the UK: SC-VTOL "Enhanced"

EASA published its Special Condition for small-category VTOL aircraft (SC-VTOL) on 2 July 2019. It covers aircraft with up to nine passenger seats and a maximum certified take-off mass of 3,175 kg. The SC-VTOL-01 text sets two categories:

• Category Enhanced is required for commercial passenger transport and for flights over congested areas. The aircraft must be able to continue safe flight and land at a vertiport after a failure. The accompanying guidance sets a catastrophic-failure objective of no more than 10⁻⁹ per flight hour.
• Category Basic requires only a controlled emergency landing, which may damage the aircraft, with looser objectives for aircraft with fewer seats.

In practice, any European air taxi selling seats over a city needs Category Enhanced, the airliner-level standard. That is one reason European timelines have slipped. The UK CAA is running Vertical Aerospace's programme along the same lines. Vertical holds a UK CAA Design Organisation Approval, and its July 2026 update calls the CAA and EASA pathway "clear and well-defined".

China: TC, PC and OC for pilotless aircraft

The CAAC took EHang through all three steps for an aircraft with no pilot on board. According to EHang's airworthiness page, the TC came in October 2023. EHang announced the production certificate on 7 April 2024, and its airworthiness page gives a different month for it. On 30 March 2025 EHang said the CAAC had issued the first air operator certificates for "civil human-carrying pilotless aerial vehicles". They went to two operators: EHang's own general-aviation subsidiary in Guangzhou and its Hefei joint venture, HeYi Aviation. EHang said the certificates allow ticketed sightseeing and tourism flights at those sites.

AutoFlight shows that cargo approvals come first. Its unmanned CarryAll cargo aircraft received a CAAC TC in March 2024 and a production certificate on 24 December 2024. The passenger version, Prosperity, only has an accepted TC application, with the process starting on 26 April 2024.

Other regulators

• UAE (GCAA): On 7 May 2026 Archer said the GCAA had moved Midnight onto a Restricted Type Certificate track. Archer says the route allows "limited commercial operations". It gave no start date.
• Brazil (ANAC): Eve's TC application was accepted on 3 February 2022. Final airworthiness criteria followed on 1 November 2024, according to Eve's FY2025 10-K cited in our record.
• Japan (JCAB): SkyDrive agreed its General Certification Plan with JCAB on 9 March 2026. JCAB granted it Approved Design Organization status on 15 April 2026. That is a company approval, not an aircraft TC.

Certificate status, aircraft by aircraft

The table gives the most advanced approval each maker states it holds, and the latest milestone we confirmed in a primary source. "Applied" means the regulator has accepted an application, not that it has approved anything.

Sources for the milestones: EHang Q2 2026 results, Joby conforming aircraft, Joby eIPP Texas, Archer Q2 2026 results, BETA Q2 2026 results, Vertical transition flight, Diamond Aircraft/Volocopter, Eve FY2025 results, Wisk Gen 6 first flight, Aridge Dubai flight.

Promised versus delivered

Launch dates in this sector are company plans, and many have already passed. The table pairs a dated public promise with what the maker itself later reported.

Lilium is not in our database because it no longer has an active aircraft programme. It belongs in this table because its own filings set out the sequence: the operating subsidiaries filed for insolvency on 28 October 2024, the sale was signed, and the parent said it expected no distribution to shareholders.

Published specs compared

All figures are maker-stated unless marked (reported). Our records show them in the units the source used. A dash means the maker does not publish the figure on the pages we cite.

What these numbers mean, and where to be careful

Passengers do not include the pilot. Joby's FAA criteria specify one pilot plus four passengers. For a piloted aircraft, the pilot's seat and weight are part of the design. Autonomous designs such as the EH216-S and VT35 use that capacity for paying occupants instead.

Range is the most heavily qualified figure. Some makers quote a reserve-inclusive figure, some quote a test-demonstrated distance and some quote a design target. Few say which. Joby's 241.4 km comes from a 2022 announcement. SkyDrive gives a band of 15–40 km. Wisk's aircraft page currently shows 10 mi "with reserves", about 10 kt cruise and an altitude of 100+ ft, far below every other aircraft in the table. Read those as what the page shows today, not as a design target. BETA publishes one range figure on a page that covers both its conventional take-off CX300 and the vertical take-off A250, and the CX300 is the variant furthest into FAA certification. Don't assume the 622.3 km applies to vertical take-off.

Speed labels vary. Maximum speed and cruise speed are different figures. Six makers publish a maximum and five a cruise speed, and only Volocopter gives both. A quoted top speed tells you little about trip time on a 30 km urban hop, where take-off, transition and landing take up much of the trip.

Weight figures do not always agree. Our Joby record lists a maximum take-off weight of 2,400 kg from Joby's technology page. The FAA's 2024 criteria for the JAS4-1 state 4,800 lb, which is lower. AutoFlight's 2024 TC-application release gave Prosperity's take-off weight as up to 2,200 kg, while its current product page states 2,400 kg. Use the regulator's document where one exists.

Payload is almost never published by the maker. Only the VT35's 200 kg comes straight from a maker page. Payload decides whether four seats means four adults with luggage or four light passengers, and for most of these aircraft it is not public.

Architecture predicts range. Wingless multicopters (EH216-S, SkyDrive, VoloCity) publish 20–40 km. Aircraft with wings and tilting or dedicated cruise propellers publish 100 km or more, with Wisk's test-page figure as the exception. A multicopter suits short sightseeing loops and fixed shuttles. A winged design is what you need for an airport-to-city-centre run.

Piloted versus autonomous

Seven of our 12 aircraft are designed to carry a pilot. Three are designed to fly without one (EH216-S, VT35, Wisk Gen 6). Aridge offers automatic and manual modes, and AutoFlight does not state the mode for Prosperity in the sources we cite.

The regulatory split is clear. China has certificated a pilotless passenger aircraft and licensed operators to fly it. The US powered-lift SFAR assumes a pilot on board. Wisk describes its Gen 6 as the first candidate for FAA type certification of an autonomous eVTOL. Its aircraft is supervised from the ground by a "Multi-Vehicle Supervisor", and it made its first hover flight in December 2025. Joby has shown autonomy on a different airframe. On 18 September 2026 it reported a 3,199-mile coast-to-coast flight by a converted Cessna Caravan with "zero control inputs" from an onboard safety pilot. That shows the software works. It does not certify an autonomous air taxi.

For a city or operator, the choice is between a piloted aircraft that fits US and European rules being written now, with one seat used by the pilot, and an autonomous aircraft that has been certified only in China so far.

What the numbers say (Analysis)

• 1 of 12 aircraft holds a passenger-carrying type certificate (EH216-S, CAAC). The same aircraft is the only one our database lists as shipping. Joby is listed at "pilot" stage and the other 10 are prototypes.
• 11 of 12 publish a range. The median is 160.9 km and the spread runs from 16.1 km (Wisk's current page) to 622.3 km (BETA's page). Removing those two outliers leaves the median at 160.9 km.
• The median seat count is 4 passengers (all 12 records). 5 of 12 carry two or fewer: EH216-S, VT35, SkyDrive, Aridge and the one-passenger VoloCity.
• By layout the field splits 4 / 4 / 4: tilting propellers (Joby, Archer, Vertical, Wisk), lift-and-cruise (BETA, Eve, VT35, AutoFlight) and wingless multicopters (EH216-S, SkyDrive, VoloCity, Aridge). The three multicopters that publish a range have a median of 30 km. The eight winged designs have a median of 180.5 km.
• Disclosure is thin. Maximum take-off weight appears for 6 of 12, payload for 3 of 12 (two of them reported, not maker-stated), battery capacity for 2 of 12 (AutoFlight 173,800 Wh; BETA 225,000 Wh) and price for 1 of 12: EHang lists the VT35 at CNY 6,500,000 in China.
• The field is split between two countries: 4 US makers and 4 Chinese. Each of Brazil, Germany, Japan and the UK has one. Every certificate actually issued for an aircraft, as opposed to a company approval, came from the CAAC.

How to read an air taxi announcement

1. Check which certificate is named. A TC covers the aircraft design. A PC covers the factory. An OC or AOC covers the operator. A DOA or ADO covers the company. Only the first three together allow a commercial passenger flight.
2. Check the regulator. A CAAC certificate does not let an aircraft fly paying passengers in Europe or the US. A UAE restricted TC is designed for limited operations in the UAE.
3. Treat "plans", "targets" and "expected" as plans. Archer's UAE deployment was announced for 2025 and is now targeted for 2026. Vertical's TC target moved from 2028 to 2029 within three months.
4. Look for passengers. eIPP flights, permit-to-fly test campaigns and demonstrations are useful. None of the releases we read for those campaigns says paying passengers were carried.
5. Ask for payload and reserves. If a maker publishes range but not payload, the range was probably calculated at a lighter weight than a full cabin.

You can filter and line these aircraft up yourself with our finder and compare tool, or browse the full eVTOL air taxi category. For a cross-category ranking of advanced robots and autonomous machines, see Robot500.

Frequently asked questions

Is any eVTOL air taxi certified to carry passengers in October 2026?

Yes, one in our database: the EHang EH216-S. It holds CAAC type, production and operator certificates and flies without a pilot. No piloted eVTOL in our database holds an FAA, EASA, UK CAA, ANAC or JCAB type certificate.

Can I book an air taxi ride today?

EHang said in March 2025 that its operator certificates allow ticketed sightseeing flights at its Guangzhou and Hefei sites. Its August 2026 results describe these as trial operations and say regulators have slowed some approvals. Outside China, none of the makers we checked had announced bookable passenger service by 9 October 2026.

What is the difference between the FAA's powered-lift SFAR and type certification?

Type certification approves the aircraft design. The SFAR (14 CFR Part 194, in force from 21 January 2025 for ten years) covers how powered-lift pilots are trained and rated and which operating rules apply. An operator needs both, plus an operator certificate.

Are autonomous air taxis allowed in the US or Europe?

Not for passenger service yet. The FAA's powered-lift operating rule assumes a pilot on board. Wisk is pursuing FAA type certification for an autonomous design, and the eIPP lists automation safety as one of its project areas. Neither has produced a certificate for an autonomous passenger aircraft so far.

What happened to Volocopter and Lilium?

Volocopter went insolvent at the end of 2024. Diamond Aircraft, a Wanfeng subsidiary, announced on 20 March 2025 that it had taken the company over, keeping it in Bruchsal and keeping the VoloCity programme. Lilium's operating subsidiaries filed for insolvency on 28 October 2024. A sale to an investor consortium was signed in December 2024, and a second insolvency filing in February 2025 was reported after the funding failed.

Why do published ranges differ so much?

Makers measure range differently (with or without reserves, at what payload, design target or tested). Layout also matters: wingless multicopters publish 20–40 km, and winged designs mostly publish 100 km or more.

When will Joby and Archer start service?

Both say they plan first passenger flights in 2026. Joby has stated this in the US through the eIPP and in Dubai. Archer has stated it in the UAE, with US eIPP operations "later this year". Both are still company plans. Neither aircraft held an FAA type certificate when we checked.

Methodology

Specifications come from the 12 eVTOL records in our database. Each robot page lists the source for every field and whether it is maker-stated or reported by media. For certification status and launch history, we read regulator documents (Federal Register, FAA, EASA, US Department of Transportation) and company primary sources (SEC filings, investor releases and official newsrooms), all on 9 October 2026. Where we relied on a media report because no company statement was available, we say so. Forward-looking dates are the companies' stated plans, not our forecasts. We did not convert currencies. Unit figures appear as the source published them, except where we compare a regulator's figure directly. We have not flown in or tested any of these aircraft. This is spec-based analysis. Our general approach is described on the methodology page.

Spotted an error or a newer figure? Email corrections@rankedrobot.com and we'll check it and log the correction.