Ubifly Technologies, operating as The ePlane Company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Noida International Airport to develop the comprehensive infrastructure, regulatory framework and operating ecosystem required for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) services. According to reports from Business Standard, the agreement establishes a framework for jointly developing standard operating procedures (SOPs), Vertiport Management Systems and operational processes needed to deploy ePlane's flagship e200X aircraft. The partnership was officially announced on Thursday and covers vertiports, charging facilities, regulatory procedures and systems required for future Advanced Air Mobility services. As per Business Standard, Noida International Airport's long-term vision is closely linked with bringing innovative, future-ready infrastructure to the region, with integrating Advanced Air Mobility into their airport framework being an important part of their commitment to seamless, multi-modal connectivity.
Under the partnership, Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), the concessionaire for Noida International Airport, will allocate space within the airport premises for proof-of-concept trials, vertiports and charging stations. As reported by Business Standard, the airport will also align its operating procedures to accommodate eVTOL services. ePlane will focus on securing necessary clearances from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), while carrying out prototyping and flight testing of the e200X aircraft. The company is developing the e200X for passenger air taxi, air ambulance and urban cargo applications and is backed by investors including Speciale Invest, Antares Ventures and Naval Ravikant. The e200X aircraft is expected to travel 100 km on a single charge with fares estimated at 2.5 times the cost of an Uber ride.
The two companies will jointly engage with regulators, Air Traffic Control (ATC) and state governments to develop safety frameworks, Vertiport Management Systems and AI-assisted fleet scheduling integrated with smart-city systems. According to Business Standard, this infrastructure partnership follows ePlane's recent public unveiling of the full-scale e200X PT-01 prototype, with ground testing currently underway. The MoU aims to ensure that ground operations and airspace integration progress in parallel with aircraft development. ePlane will work on obtaining the required clearances from the DGCA and BCAS while continuing the e200X prototype and flight-testing programme. As per Business Standard, this MoU with Noida International Airport allows ePlane to systematically validate their operational models using drone trials before transitioning to piloted e200X flights, representing a pragmatic, step-by-step approach to ensuring the airport ecosystem is fully equipped when their aircraft are certified.
The partnership is aimed at enabling e200X-powered airport-to-airport transit, intra-city travel and emergency air ambulance services across the Delhi-NCR region. As reported by Business Standard, ePlane founder and director Satyanarayananan Chakravarthy emphasized that deploying electric air taxis requires parallel development of ground infrastructure, regulatory frameworks and operational procedures. The collaboration allows systematic validation of operational models using drone trials before transitioning to piloted flights, with the goal of bypassing urban gridlock and compressing hours of road travel into minutes of safe, emission-free transit for both passengers and critical medical care. Daniel Bircher, Chairman of Noida International Airport, said the airport plans to integrate Advanced Air Mobility into its infrastructure and connectivity framework, stating they are pleased to collaborate on developing ground infrastructure and operational SOPs required to deliver safe, zero-emission air transit and vital emergency services to Delhi-NCR.
The ePlane Company, founded in 2019 and incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras Incubation Cell, is developing electric aircraft for the advanced air mobility market. According to Business Standard, the company was the first private Indian entity to receive Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the DGCA and was the first private aerospace entity in India to receive a formal Design Organisation Approval from the DGCA for electric aircraft. The DGCA formally accepted its e200X Type Certification application in 2024, and the company is targeting commercialisation in 2028. The company operates a more than 60,000-square-foot facility for eVTOL prototyping, manufacturing and testing at the IIT Madras Discovery Campus in Thaiyur, Chennai. The e200X prototype follows more than 10,000 km of cumulative flight testing across its technology demonstrators. The company specializes in high-efficiency, zero-emission aviation architectures tailored for high-density urban corridors, utilizing its patented global "Synergistic Lift" technology to create an ultra-compact 8x11 meter footprint that removes the need for specialized vertiports and unlocks rooftop scalability using standard municipal helipads.
