Just a week ago, LYTE Aviation launched its new pilot project, an advanced regional route from Twente Airport (Netherlands) landing straight at the doorstep of the business district, La Defense in Paris (France).
Now, LYTE, due to the positive global resonance, is proceeding to enter the Indian market with its 40-seater eVTOL. It has received 10 pre-orders from Vman to deliver within five to six years.
Just last year, Vman has purchased 10 light utility helicopters (LUHs) and sub-lease two ATR 72-600s for their existing business. And this year, they are actively looking into the near future business opportunities with LYTE.
“We see the value of eVTOLs in India, but so far, the two- to four- seater eVTOLs were not really filling the market demand that we are focused on. When we were introduced to the 40 seater eVTOL by LYTE Aviation, we immediately connected the pain points of our region with the benefits that their SkyBus offer. We want to make sure that we are the front runners of mass transit disruption in India, as it is inevitably coming,” said Vishok Mansingh, CEO of Vman.
“Vman, with expertise and experience in aviation, provides customized aviation, asset management and air mobility solutions to their customers for sustainable profitability across the geographical region in India. With over 40 aircrafts on order, and knowing that India has the third-largest domestic passenger market, Vman is aiming to pioneer the urban air mobility market. By the time, the SkyBus is ready to deliver around 2027/28, we want to be one of the first ones that access this mass market in India. Only in Mumbai, there are 1.5million passengers traveling by train. So, we definitely see the value that LYTE’s 40-seater eVTOL will create for our markets that we have access to,” added Vishok.
LYTE Aviation is the creator of an advanced 40-seater eVTOL urban and regional mobility aircraft. They offer the passenger version, the SkyBus and its cargo variant, the SkyTruck, which has a 4.5 tonne payload capability.
LYTE’s SkyBus offers a range of 620 miles (1,000 km) with a max speed of 190 mph (300 km/h). The LA-44 has a tandem tilt-wing design, disrupting other futuristic looking next-gen designs. A full-scale prototype is being planned within 24 months, and serial production within five to six years.
LYTE Aviation’s SkyBus design features two separate propulsion systems, one electric and powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the other turbine powered by jet fuel or SAF. These unique features offer the opportunity to use existing infrastructure with jet fuel or SAF refuelling stations, but also motivate the expansion of hydrogen refuelling stations at existing airports and at new vertiports.
Freshta Farzam, founder and CEO of LYTE Aviation, explained her vision: “When we started working on our use cases, we knew that India is one of our main target markets. If you consider the ever growing congested roads, due to ever growing population, ever growing demand for passenger mobility and goods, especially in the mega cities, it is a great place to offer point-to-point movement of passengers in masses. India, a country that carries more than one-seventh of the entire global population, offers the required advanced technology and infrastructure to be in the forefront of advanced urban and regional aviation. Our 40-seater eVTOL comes without reliance on runways, we will mostly require a landing pad of 40 m x 40m,” said Freshta.
“Furthermore, the LA-44 would be honed for operation in other rugged operational conditions and in the absence of ground infrastructure also in remote areas. Its unique design will enable
us to tap mass transport capabilities, displacing air transport and land transport modalities such as buses, trains, ferries, trucks and regional airlines like it has never been done before.”
Freshta is a German entrepreneur who believes that bold mindset, sharp focus and glowing eyes for a vision are the solution to co-create success: “Since our announcement of our 40seater eVTOL this year, we got approached by several companies that have shown interest in partnerships and pre-orders. We are currently in talks with very interesting markets, but when Vishok came with his vision for the Indian market, that was very impressive, yet, with a very feasible and solution-oriented approach that matches LYTE’s overall business strategies. I am looking for the right mindsets in partners, and Vishok also shows courage, genius and glowing eyes for his company with a very clear strategy. We are both looking into the same direction: traveling needs to become much faster and easier, especially in India’s congested mega cities. Our SkyBus is 6x faster compared to a bus on the ground, and much more flexible to land anywhere compared to a plane.”
This press release was prepared and distributed by LYTE Aviation.
