Benzinga | Jun 24, 2021 09:06AM EDT

Blade Air Mobility Reports Deal For Embraer's Eve Unit To Provide Blade Up To 60K Hours Of Flight Time/Year On Its Electric Vertical Aircraft Beginning 2026 For Use In Southern Florida, West Coast Markets

* Eve, an Embraer-backed manufacturer of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, to provide up to 60,000 hours of flight time per year to Blade across multiple markets

* This agreement has the potential to bring up to 60 of Eve's Electric Vertical Aircraft ("EVA" or "eVTOL") to Blade's platform

* Aircraft will be deployed by Eve together with local partners, consistent with Blade's asset-light business model

NEW YORK & MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Blade Air Mobility, Inc. ((&ldquo, Blade&rdquo, , NASDAQ:BLDE) and Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions, Inc. ("Eve"), a subsidiary of Embraer S.A. ((&ldquo, Embraer, &rdquo, NYSE:ERJ), announced an arrangement for Eve to provide Blade up to 60,000 hours of flight time per year on its EVA beginning in 2026 for use in Southern Florida and West Coast markets, subject to certain considerations.

Backed by Embraer's more than 50-year history of aircraft manufacturing and certification expertise, Eve unveils a unique value proposition by offering a suite of products and services. Eve's zero-emission and low noise EVA represents a simple and intuitive design that continues to reach development milestones, including the first flight of the engineering simulator in July 2020, and a proof of concept in October 2020. In parallel, Eve's Urban Air Traffic Management project reached a new milestone in its collaboration with the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority to develop a scalable environment needed to host UAM flights.

"Blade is aligned with our mission as they have created a platform that provides the user seamless access to Urban Air Mobility, and now with Eve to provide an experience that is quiet and without emissions. The company's platform will be instrumental in deploying our aircraft in key markets in South Florida and the West Coast of the United States. This partnership with Blade is the next step in unlocking the future of mobility in these key areas and marks an exciting time for both companies," said Andre Stein, President & CEO of Eve.

Eve plans to deploy, together with local partners, up to 60 aircraft for Blade's use throughout the United States beginning in 2026. Blade will pay for flight time utilized on Eve's aircraft, which will be made available by Eve and other third-parties. The deployment of Eve aircraft across the Blade network is subject to the parties entering into definitive final agreements.

"Blade is pleased to partner with Eve, leveraging Embraer's deep aerospace expertise to provide Blade with quiet, zero-carbon, electric aircraft," said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade. "Eve's aircraft provides ideal operating economics for Blade's shorter distance routes, adding to our three other recently announced EVA partnerships which, together, can optimize service for Blade's wide variety of mission profiles and regional hubs."