Paris Air Show 2025: Electric flight is buzzing

Le Bourget airfield in Paris was humming last week — literally. Everywhere visitors looked at the 2025 Paris Air Show, electric flying machines were parked like exotic birds or lifting gracefully into the skies. Some had rotors folded up like wings; others resembled luxury drones on steroids. Advanced Air Mobility was the buzzword of the show, and the crowd couldn’t get enough.

Once upon a time, these eVTOLs (electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) were the stuff of animated movies and techie fantasy. But this year, they felt real. Developers highlighted serious orders, big-name backers and a sense that this wasn’t a demo anymore.

Eve Air Mobility, a subsidiary of Embraer, announced a $250-million binding agreement with Revo for up to 50 eVTOL aircraft. Said Johann Bordais, CEO of Eve Air Mobility, “By moving from concept to implementation, we are not only advancing our commercial roadmap but also helping to shape a robust and sustainable UAM ecosystem, setting a global benchmark for eVTOL deployment.”

And it might well be. The demand is obvious. Airports are bursting at the seams, city streets are clogged, and people want a quicker way to hop across town or over to a neighbouring city. More than 800 designs are jostling for a slice of the action, and hundreds of these machines already have customers signed up.

That’s why Le Bourget felt less like a traditional air show and more like a flying car showroom. Startups like Joby Aviation and Lilium showcased machines that look like they flew in from a Marvel set. Even big players like Airbus and Embraer unveiled their own electric ambitions, promising routes that make taxis and helicopters seem clunky.

Joby Aviation’s founder and CEO, JoeBen Bevirt, emphasised the need for global teamwork: “Today’s milestone fundamentally underpins our approach to bringing our aircraft to markets around the world. We applaud these authorities for their efforts to coalesce around a common approach to approving eVTOL in their respective countries.”

And everyone was talking green. Thanks to super-light composites, smart batteries, and clever aerodynamics, these craft plan to sip power like economy cars and keep noise to a whisper.

Public acceptance matters too. The developers seem to know that. Many discussed pilot routes to ferry doctors and medicine or short hops to airports, aiming to demonstrate real-world utility beyond sleek showroom appearances.

EHang, a Chinese urban air mobility pioneer, brought its autonomous aerial vehicle EH216-S and made its case clear: “We are the first company to be granted both the type certificate and the air operator certificate by the Civil Aviation Authority of China. This allows us to transport people commercially — and it’s already happening,” said Ricardo Ortega Recio, an EHang director.

Archer Aviation showed off its Midnight eVTOL and outlined its goals too: “Our eVTOL design is focused on providing a safe, sustainable and efficient mode of transportation for passengers,” an Archer spokesperson said.

Textron eAviation subsidiary Pipistrel, a pioneer in electric and hybrid-electric aircraft manufacturing, had its hybrid Nuuva V300 on display. “It was always envisioned as a hybrid solution,” said Kriya Shortt, president and CEO of Textron eAviation. “We have eight electric motors for vertical take-off and landing, and an internal combustion engine for wing-borne cruise flight. That combination gives us the range and payload capability to serve remote locations.”

New entrants like Wisk Aero had an eye on the skies too. “We are working to the same safety standards as the latest commercial aircraft, and we are getting really close to flying,” said Sebastien Vigneron, CEO of Wisk.

Even humanitarian logistics are on the radar. Windracers announced a collaboration with Aviation Sans Frontières to deliver aid across difficult terrain. “We developed ULTRA with this exact idea in mind,” said Stephen Wright, founder and group executive chairman of Windracers. “To provide low-cost means of delivering humanitarian aid to hard-to-reach locations for people who need help the most.”

And there’s plenty of mainstream interest already. Visitors at the show spoke of congested metros like Lagos and Cape Town, where moving people faster across town could matter more than in most European capitals. Most agreed that air mobility would require training, new vertiports and a new skillset for technicians to keep these machines flying.

Of course, this evolution is underway. Safety regulators are actively engaging with manufacturers to ensure these designs meet rigorous standards. Communities are being consulted to integrate vertiports thoughtfully into urban landscapes. The mood at Le Bourget reflected a collective commitment to making this vision a reality, and turning Advanced Air Mobility into something as familiar as catching an Uber.