FlyingCars.report

Timeline

Milestones

Events as of Oct 19, 2026. A month or a year without a day is shown that way because the source did not give a day. Targets stay labelled as targets. Company claims of being first are attributed to the company.

DateVehicleKindEventSources
Certification step
FAA says the Tesla vehicle is not an aircraftCBS News reported the FAA statement that the Tesla vehicle does not meet the definition of an aircraft. CBS also reported a planned production year of 2028. That year is a plan.
Other
Electrek reports Alef's 1,000th logged flightElectrek reported that Alef had completed its 1,000th logged flight and released video of its flying car over a Tesla Roadster. Electrek did not give the flight's calendar date. Electrek separately described a Model Zero Ultralight video from the previous year. This row does not decide which airframe was in the October 2026 video.
Certification step
Certification targeted for the end of 2028Bordais said Eve is targeting certification by the end of 2028, a piloted conforming prototype by the end of 2027, and six conforming prototypes for certification at the end of 2028. Those are targets. He did not say a type certificate had been issued.
Certification step
EASA production organisation approvalPAL-V announced the approval in September 2026. all-electronics.de reported the date as September 7, 2026, and said it is not a completed type certificate.
Slipped date
First deliveries moved to 2027XPulse says Zhao Deli, in an interview published August 27, 2026, said Aridge could not deliver in 2026 and was aiming for 2027. The 2027 date is a target.
Other
BETA says it began eIPP flightsBETA said it had launched the first operations under the FAA eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, using the conventional-takeoff ALIA to carry manufactured organs with United Therapeutics. The day of the first flight is not stated. "First" is BETA's claim. This is not a type certificate.
Certification step
CX300 requirements definition closedBETA said the FAA had accepted the CX300's compliance requirements and that the requirements-definition phase was closed. BETA did not say a type certificate was issued.
Slipped date
Type-certification target moves from 2028 to 2029Vertical said it now expects type certification in 2029. It said it had previously indicated rising risk to a 2028 target. The new year is still a target, not an issued certificate.
Certification step
Expanded UK CAA permit to flyVertical said the CAA expanded the permit to fly, authorising the first public demonstration flights away from Cotswold Airport. A permit to fly is not a type certificate.
Piloted flight
Piloted Salinas to Monterey flightsArcher said that in July its Midnight flew a piloted round trip between Salinas Municipal Airport and Monterey Regional Airport, about nine minutes each way, with the FAA. Archer called it a step toward eIPP operations later in 2026. That later operation is a target. The day in July was not stated.
Certification step
Moved into the GCAA restricted type certificate programArcher says the GCAA transitioned Midnight into the program. The certificate itself is not described as issued.
First flight
Second Gen 6 aircraft fliesWisk announced on May 4, 2026 the first flight of its second Gen 6 aircraft at Hollister, California: vertical takeoff, hover and chirp maneuvers. The release does not give a separate calendar date for the flight. Wisk also said the first Gen 6 had started flight testing in mid-December, without stating the year in that sentence.
Piloted flight
Volant says it flew a piloted full transitionVolant says that in May 2026 it completed a piloted full-transition flight at Zigong Lantian Airport. The day is not stated. Volant calls this China's first and says that made it the third company globally to do so. Those rankings are Volant's claims.
Infrastructure
Dubai International Airport vertiport technically completeSkyports and the RTA said the flagship vertiport was technically complete and ready for eVTOL aircraft. Passenger service had not started. No opening date was stated in that announcement.
Other
FlightGlobal reports the programme being erasedFlightGlobal reported that, a little over a year after a second and final insolvency, the last traces of Lilium's programme were being erased at Oberpfaffenhofen and that prototypes had failed to sell. The article does not give the insolvency's calendar date.
First flight
Hover phase of the remote-piloted demonstratorBordais told Aviation Week that the hover phase was completed in April and that Eve had logged 72 flights on the remotely piloted full-scale demonstrator. In an interview published October 14, 2026, "this year" still lay ahead for later transition work, so the April he described sits in 2026. He did not give the day. The demonstrator is remotely piloted, not a piloted conforming aircraft.
Piloted flight
Piloted transition flightsVertical said that in April 2026 it achieved two-way piloted transition flight, and that it was the first to do so under UK CAA design-organisation oversight. "First" is the company's claim. Vertical said the flights were on the prototype programme behind Valo.
Piloted flight
Volant says AC101 made a piloted flightVolant says its first development-batch aircraft, the AC101, was rolled out in Zigong in May 2025 and completed a piloted flight in October 2025. Volant calls that flight the country's first for this aircraft class. The day in October is not stated. AC101 is a development aircraft, not a statement that the VE25-100 is certified.
Piloted flight
Piloted test flights in DubaiSkyports said Joby completed piloted test flights in Margham in June 2025, including the first UAE piloted flights between two places, Margham and Al Maktoum International Airport. Skyports did not give the day.
Certification step
Air operator certificates in Guangzhou and HefeiEHang says two operators received CAAC air operator certificates. An operator certificate is not a type certificate.
First flight
Public flight in GuangzhouXPulse says the aircraft flew in public in Guangzhou on this day, at the first real showing of the Land Aircraft Carrier. XPulse does not say whether a person was on board for that particular flight.
Certification step
CAAC production certificateEHang says the production certificate was issued this day. It covers the factory's quality system. It is not a type certificate.
Certification step
Type-certificate application acceptedXPulse says the regulator accepted the type-certificate application. That is not an issued type certificate.
Certification step
Standard airworthiness certificate, and a delivery to ETONEHang says an individual EH216-S received a standard airworthiness certificate and was delivered to ETON in Guangzhou. This certificate is not a type certificate.
Certification step
CAAC type certificate issued for the EH216-SEHang says the CAAC issued the EH216-S type certificate on this day in Beijing. This is the design approval. Later airworthiness, production and operator certificates are separate.

Older public promises that later moved are also in slipped timelines on the tracker.