By Manuel Acosta, Chief Financial Officer, Aerocardal
The global mobility landscape is on the verge of its most significant transformation in a century. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft – commonly known as eVTOLs – are being developed and tested in cities from Los Angeles to Tokyo, promising a faster, cleaner, and more flexible alternative to traditional ground transportation.
In Latin America, a region marked by rapid urbanization, traffic congestion, and diverse topography, the idea of electric flying vehicles resonates deeply. But ambition alone is not enough. For eVTOLs to become a reality in our region, we must first confront one of the most pressing hurdles: the lack of supporting infrastructure.
Latin America’s urban bottlenecks
Latin America’s cities are growing at a record rate. Over 80% of the population now lives in cities, according to the United Nations. Congestion is a lifestyle in metropolises like São Paulo, Mexico City, Bogotá, and Santiago. For business travelers, time-sensitive travelers, and medical evacuation firms, the congestion is more than just a nuisance, it’s a risk.
Electric flying vehicles offer a compelling solution: they require less space than helicopters, are quieter, and produce zero emissions at the point of use. With ranges typically between 50 and 150 kilometers and cruise speeds above 150 km/h, eVTOLs could effectively link downtown cores with peripheral airports, business districts, or even residential suburbs. The potential to shorten a 90-minute commute to 10 minutes is transformational.
Yet the promise needs to be coupled with pragmatism, and that’s where the area still falls short.
Unlike traditional aviation, which has the backing of established airports and ATC infrastructure, eVTOL flight needs a new kind of infrastructure – one that is not yet present at scale in Latin America. This includes:
Vertiports: Specific takeoff and landing areas with charging stations, maintenance access, and passenger processing capacity.
Power supply: Stable and high-capacity electrical grids capable of accommodating simultaneous fast charging of several aircraft.
Air traffic integration: Low-altitude air traffic corridors must be well-regulated, monitored, and controlled to avoid chaos and collisions in ever more crowded skies.
Ground access and connectivity: A vertiport on a rooftop or at the edge of town is only useful if passengers can easily connect to or from other modes of transportation.
Latin America grapples with all the foregoing. In most cities, even the fundamental public infrastructure is under pressure. The task, therefore, is not merely rolling out eVTOL aircraft, it’s creating an ecosystem for them.
Brazil taking the lead
Among the countries of Latin America, Brazil is by far the most prominent actor in the eVTOL space. As the home of Embraer, one of the globe’s biggest plane makers, Brazil has positioned itself at the leading edge of electric flight with Eve Air Mobility, Embraer’s eVTOL spinoff company.
In early 2025, Eve Air Mobility became part of a two-year regulatory sandbox under the leadership of ANAC (Brazil’s civil aviation authority) in collaboration with PRS Aeroportos, VertiMob, and UrbanV. The mission of this project is to establish technical and regulatory norms for eVTOL operations and vertiport infrastructure. It’s the most organized effort in the region to frame the environment for advanced air mobility.
More than 4,000 eVTOLs should be flying in South American skies in the next 15 years, projects Eve’s Co-CEO André Stein – a reflection of the market potential and scalability that the company foresees in the region. Eve is putting its money where its mouth is in terms of industrial capacity to back up the vision. In October 2024, it took out an USD 88 million loan with BNDES (Brazil’s national development bank) to build a new production facility in Taubaté, with a projected yearly output of 480 aircraft.
That funding adds to earlier commitments, including a USD 15.8 million FINEP grant for sustainable aviation programs in Brazil. The program is a total private–public investment of USD 33.8 million in cleaner, scalable mobility, matched by private funding. Embraer has overall committed to investing 20 billion reais – approximately USD 3.47 billion – in domestic production and R&D through 2030, with eVTOLs as a core strategic priority.
Beyond Brazil, action is less concentrated. In Chile, where Aerocardal flies a combination of business jets, air ambulances, and helicopters, the regulatory discussion regarding eVTOLs has yet to take off. That being said, Santiago’s position at the forefront of electric ground mobility (e.g., its growing fleet of electric buses) presages possible congruence with future air mobility efforts.
Colombia’s terrain, mountains, jungles, and remote communities, presents a strong possibility for regional rollout, particularly where roads are unreliable. Yet, public investment is still scarce, and private endeavors are met with bureaucratic challenges. Mexico, home to vast urban agglomerations, stands to gain significantly from the technology of eVTOLs but has to contend with both airspace complexity and national aviation regulations not written with electric aircraft in mind.
In each of these instances, demand is not the problem. Quite the opposite, in fact: the hunger for improved mobility solutions is strong. Execution is the issue and in establishing the foundations for safe, scalable, and economically sustainable operations.
A natural fit with private aviation
Instead of viewing eVTOLs as a competitor, private aviation companies should view them as a complementary service. For private jet operators such as Aerocardal, which fly into and out of big cities, eVTOLs would be the missing piece of the puzzle between the airport and the ultimate destination.
Consider the case of a passenger going from Santiago to a mine in the Atacama Desert. Today that would require a fixed-wing charter and a lengthy car trip over dirt roads. Tomorrow, the same journey would require a jet to the nearest airport, and then an eVTOL hop to a site-specific vertiport. The same logic applies to urban transfers. Travelers coming into Santiago International would be able to bypass road congestion entirely, heading straight downtown in an electric vehicle flown in partnership with their jet provider.
This vision for the last mile is one international operators are already chasing. United Airlines, for example, has invested in Archer Aviation to build airport-to-city-center services with eVTOLs. Another example is the announcement of Air New Zealand to purchase BETA Technologies’ all-electric aircraft as part of its ‘Mission NextGen Aircraft’ program. In Latin America, such partnerships might enable private aviation firms to broaden their services without reinventing their fleets.
Adoption won’t be technology-led—it will require public confidence. Safety first. As opposed to automobiles, electric flying aircraft are in an arena where failure can be disastrous. The aircraft have to be certified to the highest aviation standards, and operators have to face the same degree of scrutiny that commercial carriers do.
Latin American regulators, in particular civil aviation authorities, will need to work hand in hand with industry participants to create simple certification frameworks. Fortunately, the model of the FAA and EASA – both of which are set to certify electric VTOLs by the end of the decade – provides a template. Localization will, however, require political will, technical capacity, and regional cooperation, none of which can be taken for granted.
Looking ahead
At Aerocardal, we believe in the value of innovation, but innovation must be grounded in operational reality. Electric flying vehicles are not a silver bullet, but they are an exciting piece of the mobility puzzle. By positioning ourselves not just as aircraft operators but as mobility partners, we can help shape the infrastructure, policy, and user experience needed to bring eVTOLs to life in Latin America.
It starts with partnerships. Aircraft manufacturers like Eve, Volocopter, Joby Aviation, Supernal from the Hyundai Motor Group, and Archer already invest in Brazil and elsewhere. Local governments, aviation authorities, and private jet operators need to keep that pace. Infrastructure investment, regulatory modernization, and public information campaigns have to move in parallel.
Latin America is not required to follow models from other continents – we need to develop our own, based on the realities of our cities, our people, and our skies. If done correctly, electric flying aircraft will not be a fashion; they can be an essential link in a truly integrated mobility system.