It’s been a busy month for the UK’s Halo Aviation, a helicopter operator based in the south of England. At the beginning of May, Halo was acquired by Directional Aviation, an umbrella company with several aviation brands. And now a partnership with air taxi developer Eve Mobility has been announced including an order for 200 electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Deliveries of the Eve eVTOL are expected to start in 2026. The order represents one of the largest in the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industry and secures Halo as the launch partner for Eve in both the US and the UK. Eve is an independent company formed by aircraft manufacturer Embraer to accelerate the UAM ecosystem around the world.
“We believe Eve has designed an aircraft that is well-prepared for not only initial certification but also has a proven track record of production,” said Kenneth C. Ricci, principal of Directional Aviation, an investment fund which also owns FlexJet, Sentient Jet, Private Fly and Nextant Aerospace among others.
“The outstanding lineage of aircraft design, certification and production that Embraer brings to this aircraft positions Eve with significant advantages in the competitive landscape.
“Our background as operators has taught us that product support is absolutely vital to the overall success of new programmes.”
The Halo-Eve venture will benefit from the work that Eve has already invested in the UK market as the leader of a consortium that is solving the regulatory and operational issues to bring eVTOL operations to London. They are working with the UK Civil Aviation Authority´s ‘innovation sandbox’ programme.
Eve and Halo will also partner on the continued development of Eve’s Urban Air Traffic Management system as well as the fleet operations and services product offerings that Eve offers as an ecosystem integrator for UAM operations.
In addition, Halo announced the alignment of Halo Aviation and US-based Associated Aircraft Group (AAG) under the Halo brand. Both companies had been acquired earlier this year by OneSky Flight, a member of the Directional Aviation family. Halo will provide streamlined experiences for world-travelling clients of sister companies in the Directional Aviation family of brands.
“Bringing together two companies, which are leading providers of vertical lift and urban mobility services in two of the most important markets, will create a phenomenal vertical mobility platform,” said Ricci.
