News Briefs: Albatross.Ai, Xunqi Technology, et al.
Plus, a eVTOL tie-up with Spain and new shareholders for an eVTOL maker.
Albatross.Ai First in China to Enter CTSO-C211 DAA Airworthiness Compliance Review
The kickoff meeting was held on May 19 in Shanghai with the airworthiness review team from the Chengdu Airborne Equipment Center of the Civil Aviation Airworthiness Certification Center of China (CAAC).
Albatross.ai said it is the first Chinese company to formally enter the CTSO-C211 airworthiness compliance review process.
Author’s note — I caught up with Albatross.Ai for my article "APAC AAM Shifts From Hype to Groundwork" in Aviation Week (May 28). It was great to connect with founder & CEO Dr. Martin Ding and co-founder Sabrina Li.
Dr. Ding's work on autonomous flight traces back to his Ph.D. research at Texas A&M University starting in 2005, when NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) program explored decentralized air traffic management, digital flight rules, and onboard self-separation for aircraft operating outside radar coverage.
Though SATS was not fully deployed, those concepts now inform Albatross.Ai's Autonomous Flight Assistance System (AFAS).
The company has tested AFAS with Vertaxi, whose E6 UAV was rebranded as Albatross ONE, alongside a small DJI UAV, validating situational awareness and collision avoidance in multi-aircraft scenarios.