flynow's automatic electric helicopters take off at expo 2030 riyadh

eCopters as a means of transport at Expo 2030 in riyadh

Thousands of Flynow Aviation’s eCopters are set to fly hundreds of people visiting Expo 2030 in Riyadh between October 1st and March 31st, 2031. In line with the announcement, the aviation company is gearing up to open a regional office and production line in Saudi Arabia. Here, the Austrian-based company plans to produce and deliver numerous automatic electric helicopters, or eVTOLs, for Expo 2030 use. Yvonne Winter, Flynow Aviation’s Chief Operating Officer, adds that the regional office in Saudi Arabia may open within the next month or two.

Along with this, the company will set up an assembly line for local production and sales, as well as exports to global markets, in the Kingdom. In April 2024, the aviation company signed a partnership with Bayanat, a software company that employs AI-powered predictive geospatial intelligence, during DRIFTx in Abu Dhabi. The deal intended to make urban air mobility through Flynow Aviation’s eCopters available as a new means of transport to the UAE.

all images and video stills courtesy of FlyNow Aviation

Flynow aviation’s automatic electric helicopters use batteries

Mohammed AlQahtani, the CEO of Saudi Arabia Holding Co., shared the news on LinkedIn, stating his source as Asharq Alawsat Online. His post also included an overview of FlyNow Aviation’s automatic electric helicopters. Identified as eVTOLs, they can accommodate one or two people as well as cargo. Its maximum payload is 200 kilos, while its maximum take-off weight is 570 kilos. No one’s flying the eCopters since they are automatic.

One way the aviation company describes it is ‘the cable of a cable car.’ It transports people and cargo using a fixed route, a simple point-to-point destination, unlike autonomous aircraft that choose a path on their own using advanced technologies. Battery-electric drives power Flynow’s helicopters. The eCopters use coaxial rotors, meaning one rotor sits on top of the other on the same shaft, but they spin in opposite directions.

thousands of Flynow Aviation’s eCopters are set to transport people visiting Expo 2030 in Riyadh

Sensors can detect other aircraft in air to avoid collision

FlyNow Aviation draws from NASA’s Mars Helicopter ‘Ingenuity’ for their rotor design. They claim that the space agency’s aircraft was able to generate enough lift even in an atmosphere with a density of 1/100th that of Earth. An electric motor drives each rotos, which in turn consists of four independent units. The aviation company says this can avoid possible motor failures while the eCopters fly in the air. ‘Should one of the motor segments fail, it will be substituted by the three remaining ones,’ says the company.

In terms of potential collisions, the eCopters, equipped with sensors, can detect what’s in front of them. Should they encounter another aircraft or even a bird in the air, the automatic electric helicopters remain stationary for a moment before taking flight again. The technology team is looking into demonstrating this safety feature and adds that the flight behavior is calm due to the fact that the cabin is arranged below the rotors ‘and is simply held in a stable position by gravity,’ says FlyNow Aviation.

the electric aircraft, which is also identified as eVTOL, can accommodate one or two people

As of publishing the story, FlyNow Aviation says they will test their first eCopters with cargo variants and battery-electric drives. This can minimize the licensing and accident risks and make it easier for operators to obtain their pilot permits. Transporting people comes next, but there’s no official timeline yet as to when it’s going to occur. The team started to test their full-scale concept at the beginning of summer 2023 at Salzburg Airport. They shared that the tests were successful at the component level.

They were able to put the entire system of the automatic electric helicopters into operation. These included their mechanical, electrical, acoustic, and systemic criteria. ‘These results are now incorporated into the following series development,’ says the aviation company. The following development might entail the arrival of thousands of eCopters for Expo 2030 in Riyadh. After transporting visitors to the event, these eCopters plan to extend their geographical and functional ranges from supplying sailors on container ships to flying people to remote places.

no one’s flying the eCopters since they are automatic