Airframer news
12/08/2026
Manufacturing of the AIR ONE personal eVTOL and an autonomous heavy-lift cargo aircraft is due to begin in the United States by the end of the year.
AIR, the developer of Smart Aircraft, is establishing its US headquarters and an eVTOL production and flight operations hub at SunTrax, Florida's advanced air and ground transportation research and development facility near Orlando, under a partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The move makes AIR the first advanced air mobility (AAM) company to manufacture and operate eVTOL aircraft in Florida.
The company has taken around 20,000 sq ft of space at the 775-acre SunTrax campus and plans to expand its footprint as operations grow. AIR has been flying in Florida since August 2025, based near West Palm Beach, and intends to begin manufacturing its AIR ONE personal eVTOL and its autonomous heavy-lift cargo aircraft in the United States by the end of the year. Flight test programmes for both aircraft will move to SunTrax, where testing and demonstration flights will continue as the programmes progress towards production.
Rani Plaut, chief executive and co-founder of AIR, says: “Establishing AIR's US headquarters at SunTrax gives us the infrastructure and support needed to manufacture and operate our aircraft in America, while contributing to a strong domestic AAM industry. We already have more than 300 customers in the state, along with a growing network of partners, suppliers and supporters.”
SunTrax is owned and operated by FDOT and serves as Florida's dedicated hub for AAM research, development and commercialisation. The campus includes dedicated airspace, the nation's first AAM Aerial Test Track, vertiports, high-speed aircraft charging stations and maintenance hangars to support AIR's production, testing and flight operations.
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