French startup Ascendance Flight Technologies has signed a deal with Singapore-based private aviation charter company Yugo Global Industries — the agreement includes a pre-order of 18 Atea hybrid eVTOL aircraft.
For Yugo, the agreement is the company’s first step toward diversifying its fleet of private jets and helicopters to include sustainable aviation. The Atea will join Yugo’s existing inventory of aircraft from Bombardier, Bell, Airbus, Leonardo, and Robinson Helicopter, among others.
“We are thrilled that Yugo has selected Atea to be their first hybrid-electric VTOL to fly their APAC (Asia Pacific) routes upon delivery in 2025,” said Thibault Baldivia, chief customer officer and co-founder of Ascendance, in a press release.
Yugo services customers throughout Asia-Pacific and Europe, offering an on-demand digital booking system for private charter flights, cargo delivery, and air ambulance service.
The partnership with Yugo comes just five months after Ascendance secured €10 million (US$11.7 million) in funding to accelerate its product development last fall — unveiling its newest iteration of the Atea in December.
Designed for urban and regional travel, the Atea is a five-seat hybrid-electric VTOL targeting a range of 400 kilometers (250 miles), and a cruising speed of 200 kilometers per hour (125 miles per hour).
With a maximum take-off mass of more than 2,000 kilograms (4,410 pounds), the aircraft features a skyview cabin and eight new generation shrouded rotors set in a tandem wing configuration, which the company said allow for increased power during take-off and landing, as well as noise reduction.
I want one and when viable, I will buy one.