Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions (Eve), an Embraer company, and Nautilus Aviation, a division of Morris Group and Northern Australia’s largest helicopter operator, formed a partnership focused on accelerating the development of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem in Australia. The partnership will see the introduction of Eve’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) serving some of Queensland’s most iconic tourism attractions including the Great Barrier Reef.
As part of the partnership, Nautilus has ordered 10 of Eve’s eVTOL aircraft, with flights taking off over the Great Barrier Reef by 2026. Morris Group Founder and CEO Chris Morris said the new partnership with Eve accelerates the progress towards 100% of scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef coming from zero emission electric aviation and is in line with Morris Group’s commitment to reach net-zero emission by 2030 across all of its businesses.
“This partnership is an exciting development for Nautilus Aviation and Morris Group. We believe economic success and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand and aim to strengthen and enrich the environments in which we work. Eve’s eVTOL technology will integrate seamlessly into our operations to deliver a range of exciting zero-emission tourism experiences,” said Morris.
Nautilus Aviation CEO Aaron Finn said Nautilus has had an Advanced Ecotourism Certification for 8 years, however it has been hard to avoid the biggest impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fuel in the company’s helicopters. “This will allow us to provide emission-free and quiet tours over the Great Barrier Reef, providing an unmatched eco experience to our customers,” Finn said.
Andre Stein, president and CEO of Eve, said the initiative was an important milestone for the company: “Our partnership with Nautilus Aviation and Morris Group will see Eve aircraft serving Australia's iconic tourism attractions with sustainable, zero emissions low-noise, journeys. We share the same vision toward a carbon neutral future for air mobility and this a great use case for the solutions Eve is bringing to the market, including our 100% electric eVTOL and comprehensive customer support and air traffic management solutions."
