Savback Helicopters has been appointed distributor for Switzerland-based Dufour Aerospace's eVTOL aircraft, and will exclusively represent the eight seat Aero3 tilt-wing aircraft in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

"We strongly believe that Dufour Aerospace's eight seater Aero3 provides options for both today's helicopter market as well as new use cases that its cutting edge technology opens up for us," says CEO Reja Savbäck. "We are proud of this partnership, as it shows that Dufour Aerospace trusts both our vast experience and our network in the aviation industry."

Savback has identified the development of new markets across the countries of Scandinavia as being pivotal to success.

The agreement with Dufour Aerospace demonstrates the confidence that Savback Helicopters has in the future of eVTOL and the advantages to be gained from being an early mover in the urban air mobility sector, worth an estimated $1.5 trillion by 2040 according to Morgan Stanley. Savback Helicopters has over 30 years of experience selling helicopters and provides a significant knowledge of user cases and market prospects coming into the vertical lift market.

The tilt-wing design of Dufour Aerospace's aircraft family combines the ability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter with the efficiency and speed of a conventional aircraft. The Aero3 has a MTOW of 2,800kg, useable weight of 750kg, maximum speed of 350 km/h and a range of 1,020 km. The aircraft is being designed to meet EASA's SC-VTOL (Special Condition for VTOL) standards, making use of a hybrid electric propulsion system to meet the requirements of operators in multi platforms.

Dufour Aerospace CEO and co-founder Thomas Pfammatter adds: "Savback Helicopters is a reliable, experienced partner, well-positioned to promote our Aero3 aircraft in Scandinavia. It makes us proud that such an experienced company strongly anchored in the helicopter market believes in the real potential of our vision, designs and team."

While the manned Aero3 is eminently suitable for addressing the needs of advanced air mobility, Dufour Aerospace is initially focused on applications that do not require additional new infrastructure, such as air ambulance and search and rescue.