Eve Holding - Q1 2024

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good morning, and welcome to the Eve Air Mobility First Quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Lucio Aldworth, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead and begin.

Lucio Aldworth (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. This is Lucio Aldworth, the Director of Investor Relations at Eve, and I wanted to welcome everyone to our first quarter earnings, 2024 earnings conference call. Our CEO, Johann Bordais, and CFO, Eduardo Couto, are joining me on the call today, and after the prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions, at which point, Luiz Valentini, our Chief Technology Officer, will also join us for more technical questions. We prepared the deck with a few slides, and additional pictures that show our achievements in the quarter, as well as the assembly of a full-scale prototype, and that's on our website at ir.eveairmobility.com. So please, feel free to download it and tag along. Let me first start.

Let me first start the presentation by saying that it includes forward-looking statements or statements about events or circumstances that have not yet occurred. These are largely based on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting our business and our future financial performance. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including among other things, general economic, political, and business conditions, both in Brazil and in our market. The words believe, may, will, estimate, continues, anticipate, intends, expects, and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. When they take no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events, or other factors. With that, the future events and circumstances discussed in this presentation may not occur, and actual results could differ substantially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements.

With that, I will now turn the presentation over to our CEO, Johann.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thanks, Lucio. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. We had a successful start of 2024, with several important achievements. The most important one being the quick pace advancement in the assembly of our full-scale prototype. We're right on schedule and expect to conclude it in the second quarter. As you will see the next few slides, we already installed the pylon and nacelles to house the electric motors and started to install the composite skin of the aircraft. We are also preparing for another round of wind tunnel tests with the rotors on. This will start in a week and will roughly last three weeks. This will be used to validate and further refine our computer models before our ground test campaign starts in the second semester. In parallel, we continue to down select suppliers and sign binding contracts.

These define technical specification for the component and commercial aspect with volumes and unit prices, and also the after-market support conditions. Just last month, we selected KAI, Korea Aerospace Industries, and before that, we had selected Aciturri for the wings and also Crouzet for the pilot control or the joystick. Now, we now have more than 90% of all suppliers selected, and we're working to define suppliers for the high voltage system converter, skids, cabin interior, doors, lighting, transparencies, and other add options like the landing gear, for example. Lastly, we presented Vector, our urban air traffic management software, at Airspace World in Geneva with full demonstration of its capabilities. This is a strategically important tool to help scale the urban air mobility safely. For the next slide, it shows the stage of the assembly of our prototype.

As you can see, it's already looking like an eVTOL with a typical structure of an aircraft. Now, the wing and the empennage are fully joined to the fuselage, what we internally call the marriage, and they both have their internal harness installed. These are complex electronic and electric cable systems to carry signals to and from the many sensors in the wings, control surfaces, and flight computer. Also, the internal superstructure already has its electronic components and internal cabling as well. One interesting fact is that, as you can see in the slide three, we temporarily placed the many composite parts of the skin of the prototype with the tape.

This allow us, our engineers, to make any adjustment they wanna do to make it perfect, the placing of the parts, and once the parts are aligned, we have a perfect fit, and then they're installed permanently. Now, moving to the next couple of slides, these have few pictures that it shows in better detail some of the structures of our eVTOL, such as the starboard side wing and its pylon, and also the nacelle. The pylons are the structure that will support the lifters and are connected to the booms and wings. So in the essence, they will support the weight of the entire aircraft during the takeoff and landing. This is when the thrust from the lifter will allow to vertical flight. As you can imagine, the pylons have to be robust, lightweight, and flexible.

And as mentioned before, we engaged KAI to provide the pylons for our commercial aircraft. Each pylon will have an electric motor at the front and one in the rear, and these will be housed by the nacelles. Those are the green structures that you can see on those pictures. Now, slide five, it shows that we've already installed the composite skin of the cockpit, which gives a glimpse, you know, at how is the final shape and how good the eVTOL will look. I'm a big fan. Also, looking at the engineers that you can see on both pictures, it helps you to put them into perspective and give you a good sense of the size of the eVTOL.

We now still need to install the actuators, the control surfaces of the wing and the empennage, and we expect to conclude in the next few weeks. And once we receive the electric motors in the second semester, and successfully perform the necessary ground tests, we plan to start the test flight campaign later this year. Now, getting to slide six, we can see here the latest addition to our component, supplier list, which will start using the first five conforming prototypes. So far in 2024, we announced several suppliers: FACC to provide the control surface and empennage, Aciturri for the wings, Crouzet for the pilot control inceptor or the joystick, if you will. We also have signed the Thales for sensors and Honeywell for guidance and navigation, and lastly, Recaro for the seats. And just recently, we added KAI for the pylon to this list.

Our suppliers team has been quite busy, as you can see, remembering that we've announced the first three suppliers at the Paris Air Show last year, and now we have more than 15 suppliers selected. We have been using the best of breed approach to bring suppliers with experience in aviation and certification. Importantly, they will also support us for the certification campaign and throughout the eVTOL life cycle. Lastly, these contracts have a defined price and quantity schedule with a scale function, with reduction of the unit price as we reach the higher eVTOL volume of production. Commonly, we call it economy scale. We still have a few suppliers to select, but these are not the critical ones, right? Like the skids or the landing gear, transparency, cabin interiors, and lights, and we expect to conclude the selection process very soon.

Looking at this list, which will keep increasing, I am very confident of the level of safety for the certification and performance of our eVTOL. Slide seven shows Vector, our urban air traffic management software. On top of the naming of the product, we were part of the integrated demonstration in the NATS booth at the Airspace World in Geneva earlier this year. With NATS being a tier one ANSP, we showcased our work in the urban air traffic management to a global audience. As a reminder, we successfully conducted a five-day exercise in the U.K. to test Vector with our partner, Flexjet and Halo Aviation. This was used to validate and refine the software in a real-world setting, and we tested it under normal conditions and operation, but also under different conditions, such as delays, the bad weather, in-flight emergency, and other potential unplanned operation.

Vector will be an agnostic soft- software to support fleet management and control, of the airspace that we believe will help to scale the urban air mobility safely and globally. On to slide eight, it shows the latest addition to our backlog. We signed an LOI, a letter of intent, with AirX for the complete package. AirX is the largest public helicopter air charter service in Japan, and we will be collaborating, with them to scale up the UAM there. Not only, they are willing to purchase 50 of our eVTOL, but they are also subscribing to the services and operating support businesses, along with the Vector to manage their fleet.

On slide nine, this brings us to the total backlog to 2,900 aircraft, and these are non-binding letter of intent for 30 different customers, spread over 13 countries and different businesses, from the mainline to regional airlines, to helicopter operators, ride-sharing platform, and leasing companies. We also have LOIs for Vector from 16 different customers, and believe this reflects the market-leading value proposition that we bring to our customers. Importantly, the value of our backlog is now estimated at $14.5 billion, which is based on the list price of our eVTOL. We previously used a reference price to estimate the value of our backlog, and using a list price is common practice in aviation and takes into account the different internal and external factors to define the standardized price practice in the sector.

We will not disclose the aircraft price of each transaction, and we will use the list price as a reference for the future transaction values. Beyond that, we are developing a strong network of partners in areas such as infrastructure and energy, to address one of the many challenges ahead of urban air mobility, which is to create a whole new ecosystem besides simply developing an aircraft. And because aircraft don't fly without proper maintenance and support, we are highly focused on providing the best-in-class services to eVTOL's operators. We have also secured contracts with 12 different customers for maintenance, repair, and overhaul, what is commonly called MRO. That will bring up to $935 million in revenue to Eve over the 5-10 years period.

Importantly, these customers have placed LOIs for roughly 1,000 of our aircraft, which is about 35% of the order book.

... So we can potentially expand this business within our own customer base, just like, we did in the past quarter with two new service contracts. Now, I'd like to invite the CFO, Edu, to go over the financial and along with the milestone checklist.

Eduardo Couto (CFO)

Thanks, Johann. Now moving to slide 10. Eve is a pre-operational company developing its eVTOL and the ecosystem around it. Currently, our financials reflect mostly the cost associated with our program development. With that said, I want to highlight some of our numbers. Eve invested $27 million during the first quarter 2024 in our program as the development activities continue to speed up. The majority was invested in our eVTOL and a smaller portion in service and support solutions and the urban air traffic management system. We also deployed $6 million in SG&A during the quarter, which has been reasonably stable as we continue to control corporate expenses to focus our resources in the eVTOL development.

Higher development expenses were partially offset by interest revenues and a mark-to-market gain in our warrants, resulting on a net loss of $25 million in the quarter, mostly flat versus the same period last year. Now, moving to cash flow. Our operations consumed $36 million in the quarter, up $16 million versus the same period of 2023, due to higher development spending. We ended the first quarter with $223 million in cash, down just $19 million from fourth quarter 2023, as we drew another $50 million from our pre-approved credit line with the Brazilian Development Bank. We still have around $60 million available from this line that we expect to access in the upcoming quarters, helping Eve to hold its cash position.

Eve remains comfortable with total liquidity of $280 million as of the end of the quarter, and we believe it's enough to sustain our operations well into 2025. Now, moving to slide 11. We remain on track to deliver our milestones for 2024. As Johann pointed out earlier, we are advancing rapidly to conclude the assembly of our first full-scale prototype. Once we conclude airframe assembly, we start ground tests in the second half of the year. In parallel, Brazil's certification authority, ANAC, concluded its public hearing process in mid-March to define the basis of certification. The agency will now compile all comments and align them with comments made by other certifying agencies and OEMs. We expect the basis of certification to be published in 2024.

Lastly, we have started to prepare our first eVTOL manufacturing plant in an existing site of Embraer in Brazil. This is going to require new tooling, equipment and customization of the site, but this facility is already functional, saving us time and financial resources. We are also working to secure the necessary funding for the eVTOL industrialization through a long-term financing. All of our 2024 efforts will consume between $130 million-$170 million throughout this year. With that, we conclude our remarks, and I would like to open the call for questions. Operator, please proceed.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touch tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. And at this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. And the first question today will be from Savi Syth from Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Savi Syth (Managing Director)

Hey, good morning, everyone. I was curious on the plan to build kind of the next five aircraft following this first one. Are those going to be, you know, certification conforming if they're going to be used for, you know, testing that's going to count towards certification? And also just kind of what's your thoughts around the timing of those? I'm guessing you'd want to test the first one and then start working on those, but curious.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Hello, Savi, Johann speaking. Thank you. Thank you for, for your question. Yes, indeed, we will have a... Right now we're doing the non-conforming prototype, again, we showed to as we showed the pictures. And then the next step is to start, as of, the second semester, the assembly of the conforming prototype. So we'll be with a full cabin, right? And it's gonna be what the, very much close, very much close to what the, Eve-100 will be eventually. We'll produce all those five co-prototype next year, will be assembled, and it will, be part of the certification campaigns, all five of them.

Savi Syth (Managing Director)

That, that's helpful, and, that's moving really quickly, which is encouraging. Just also, if I might ask on the production of the high volume production facility. I think before the thought was maybe modular design with capacity for 250 a year, and it looks like maybe that's changed to 120. Just wondering, you know, what the process there was and, you know, the change of thinking there.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Right. No, Savi, it never changed. Actually, those are two modules, but with some modules. So we go 120 first and then 240. Then we expect to, you know, that's what we call the first module. And then the 240 can become, you know, second module that you add to 240. So that's where you get the full capacity of our facility in Taubaté, in Brazil, will be 580—480, sorry. Units a year, per year, okay? So it never changed. It really, it was always, always this rate.

Savi Syth (Managing Director)

Okay. I must have misunderstood. That's great. Thank you.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

The next question will be from Sheila Kahyaoglu from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Sheila Kahyaoglu (Aerospace Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. Good morning, guys. I wanted to ask about just the order book. You increased it by 50 aircraft, but the pipeline amounts to $14.5 billion from $8.6 billion last quarter. And you mentioned that's on list price versus reference prices. So, you know, maybe if you could talk about the change there. Was it an accounting change? Why did you change it? And then, it seems to suggest aircraft are going to be for $5 million list price versus $3 million previously. Maybe I'm miscalculating something, but if you could tell us the right way to think about it.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thanks, Sheila. Thanks for the question. Yes, indeed, you noticed well, we're now at $14.5 billion. I think that now we're entering the phase of the campaign, sales campaign. We're past, you know, also the LOI. We're still signing LOIs 'cause interest from the customers keep, you know, coming to us, and of course, we entertain, because at the end of the day, the LOI and the backlog shows and demonstrate the interest and, you know, demonstrate how the customers understand that Eve is bringing the whole solution. So, we don't stop, you know, signing LOI. I think it's a footprint that needs to grow, as of course, we will be eventually getting certification done as per the various countries, right?

First will be the ANAC and the FAA, but as we go, and we'll expand. So that's why, you know, LOIs are important. Important to demonstrate the solution that we're bringing, and it tells the world, you know, how once we certify, then customers will sign in for a purchase agreement. But at the same time, you know, we're really starting the sales campaign, and I think this is really best practice. Let's come up with a list price, the value, the backlog, and as a reference price. And then, of course, we don't disclose, you know, the price, you know, that we're negotiating the aircraft at. So, I think it's better that way.

Sheila Kahyaoglu (Aerospace Equity Research Analyst)

Okay.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

I do. Maybe on accounting-wise, sorry, Sheila-

Eduardo Couto (CFO)

There's no accounting on backlog. It's a non-U.S. GAAP measure, so.

Sheila Kahyaoglu (Aerospace Equity Research Analyst)

Perfect. Thank you. Thank you both.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

The next question will be from Austin Moeller from Canaccord. Please go ahead.

Austin Moeller (Director and Senior Analyst)

Hi. Good morning, Johann and Edu. My first question here: do you expect the $280 million in total liquidity to be sufficient to get development through all of 2025?

Eduardo Couto (CFO)

Yeah, it's, we are very comfortable, guys, in terms of liquidity and cash, right? As we show in the first quarter, our cash position, the actual cash position only declined $19 million. It was a very small decline because we accessed $15 million from the long-term finance that we have from the Brazilian Development Bank. Even though we increased, right, the cash consumption because we access $15 million from the long-term finance that we have from the Brazilian Development Bank. We now have this $280 million still left, which is a pretty big cash position. We are discussing, you know, I think this combination of equity with long-term finance has been quite a successful funding strategy that we have been implemented. We are discussing, you know, potential additional long-term finance lines, so, so we're comfortable.

I think this 280 gives us well into 2025, I would say, for sure, second half of 2025, more towards the end of 2025. But, you know, as, as I said, it's this we really like this mix of debt and equity, especially when it's a long-term debt that fits our profile, right? We are pre-operational company, so long-term finances of 15, 16 years, those are the ones that fit our profile. And because of that, we are, you know, already exploring some additional long-term finance also. So we are very comfortable, and our liquidity will remain strong.

Austin Moeller (Director and Senior Analyst)

Excellent. And then do you view the increased weight of using lifters and a pusher propeller as significant in impacting the range? Or was it more important to simplify certification by not using tilt rotors to get to that 2026 cert date?

Luiz Valentini (CTO)

So, the question about the rotors is one that we really went very deeply in, Austin, and for us, was very important to optimize the vehicle for the mission that we are proposing it to have. So with the urban mobility mission in mind, we see that the eventual loss of range that we have with respect to another configuration, for example, the tilt rotor configuration, is more than offset with the gains that we have, not only for the simpler systems that we get on this configuration, but also, for example, the clear path to certification. So it's really a matter of optimizing the vehicle and really making the choices that makes it most fit for the mission that is being proposed. And for our case, we think that this is the best balance that the vehicle can have.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

I will add, and coming from customer support and services, also the aftermarket and the operation, right? The guarantee, the availability of the aircraft, which guarantee also the return for the operator. Simplicity, you know, more pieces subject to break on the field and then, of course, you need to have the competent mechanic and the parts on stock and on the site. So also the big advantage for the customer.

Austin Moeller (Director and Senior Analyst)

... Excellent. Thank you for the insights.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. The next question will come from Andres Sheppard from Cantor Fitzgerald. Please go ahead.

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Yeah, thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking our question, and congratulations on the quarter. I wanted to go back to the backlog and the revenue recognition from that. I realize you're not commenting on the negotiating prices with the customer, but I guess with the uptick in the list price, I guess I'm just curious, are you basically, you know, are these, are these customers gonna now be paying a higher price than they initially expected? Does that change at all their interest in the LOIs? I'm just like... In other words, if we go from 3-5, will that have an impact in the order book? Or what's the best way to think about that? Thank you.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thank you, Andre. Thank you for, for the question. It's a good one. I think the customers, you know, we've been very close to our customers since the first time that, you know, we introduced the concept to them, but also, when we negotiate the LOI and see the scope, and also when we do those various advisory board human machine interface workshop, we're developing the solution for them and together. So, they know, you know, the challenges that we have. They've been following up very closely, and I think this is part of the transparency that we want with our customers. We're at the frontiers of the technology here, and we're all learning the things that we're learning as we go.

This is why we have a prototype right now, and then we'll have the conforming prototype later on. And this transparency just makes sure that we build the business model for Eve, but also for the customer together, right? It's not only just for Eve, it's for the customer. At the end, and that's also goes back to the simplicity we're talking about, it needs to be a vehicle that flies and operates and gets the return for the customers. When we have the discussion, we have different scenarios that we look you know the optimistic scenario based all the parameters, and the typical operator will have the landing fees and you know operation fees and what's the cost of the asset, and so on.

So having those different scenarios, it's a one-on-one discussion. But when it comes to the market, that's why, you know, we wanna make sure that we have this list price, as you may call it. I don't think the price right now is really, you know what, so determinant for the customers and for the backlog. I think that what is important for them is to make sure that we certify, we bring the technical solution of the aircraft. We make sure we also have the service and support team ready to support them for any interruption that we may have in the field. And yes, make a model that will just that will work for them, all right? So I think this is where we are.

They wanna be in, they wanna make it happen, and they understand there's a range, there's challenge, and we'll evolve those discussions with them as we go, especially on the price. And then, does it impact the backlog, as you said? At some point, yes, probably, but I think what impacts the backlog is not the price of the vehicle, but it's the readiness of the ecosystem. This is what's gonna make, you know, an operator choose one city or another, and just make sure that the ecosystem is ready. Once it's ready, then we'll have the operation up and running, and then, of course, we can go with firm orders and then, you know, optional, and then just as you could see, I mean, you know, we've shown it before.

It's a program that has... that needs to deliver the first airplane. We show the vitrine. This is a strategy of Eve. We have few key customers that we're working on. We get the ecosystem ready, get the operation ready, and then it will serve as a vitrine, and then we'll get the orders.

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Got it. Okay, now, that's super helpful. I appreciate all that context. Maybe just a quick follow-up. I just wanted to clarify, apologies if I misunderstood this, but just on the timeline for your prototypes and test flights. So if I understood correctly, you're expecting the first prototype to be assembled in Q2 of this year, and then the other four in the second half of the year, and then similarly to begin test flights of that first prototype in the second half of this year? I just wanna make sure I got the timing right. Thank you.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Right. Thanks, Andre. That's important. Indeed, the first full-scale prototype without the cabin, non-conforming, as we call it, is being assembled and will be, let's say, assembled by the end of the second quarter. That's correct, what you mentioned. But then we will start the production of the five conforming prototypes that will be finished, assembled, next year, in 2025. Okay?

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

I see. Okay, and then the test flights for the first one will be beginning in the second half of this year?

Johann Bordais (CEO)

That is correct.

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Okay.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

That is correct.

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Got it.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

So we'll have no different, you know, ground test that we'll be doing, you know, like the ground vibration test, the, electromagnetic interference, this type of thing, right? Flight control system testing, instrumentation, and so on, before we-

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Got it. Okay

Johann Bordais (CEO)

... can really start the flight test and eventually-

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Wonderful

Johann Bordais (CEO)

... the flight.

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Great. Got it. Thank you so much. That's helpful. I'll pass it on.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thanks, Andre.

Andres Sheppard (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Thank you.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thank you, Andre.

Operator (participant)

Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press Star then one. The next question is from Marcelo Motta, from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Marcelo Motta (Research Analyst)

... Hi, everyone. Thank you for taking the questions, too. Follow-ups here. First, going back to, to the average price of the eVTOL. Should, should we read that as just like, a pass-through of higher, you know, let's say, construction costs or development costs? You know, it's just that doesn't necessarily mean that you have a higher margin on the sale of, of those vehicles. So, so just, this follow-up. And on the certification, you know, you guys mentioned about the, the updates with ANAC, you know, the, the conforming prototypes. So the base case continued to be to have the, the certification by 2026, or, you know, c-could we have any, you know, potential positive, negative surprise here? So just to understand a little bit more on the, on the timeline of, of the certification. Thank you.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Hi, Marcelo. Thank you for those two questions. The first one, you're talking about the margin. I think, you know, again, we're creating a new segment, right? There's a lot of challenges, whether it's on the COGS side. You know, we decided to go for the best-in-breed suppliers. It's a risk-sharing partnership that we have with our suppliers. We decided to have them and go for, you know, help us only. You know, not only for the vehicles and the development, but also the production, the series, the certification, and also the aftermarket. We're all learning, let's call it, right? We do have challenges, right? When it comes to the weight, the performance of the vehicle.

We have, you know, also on the lead time and the development in general. So I don't think it's about margin right here and, you know, making sure that, you know, we're gonna be making a lot of margin on this vehicle. Like I said, it's to make sure that we, first of all, certify. We're very, very cautious and cost-cautious about how we spend the money that we have right now and the cash. We talked about this. I do made it clear that we're in a comfortable position, but gotta be very careful, and that's what we're doing. It needs to take us to the certification, and it will be the second part of the question that you had, and the answer that Valentini will give you an update.

But right now it needs to be reasonable. What we're focused on is not only if to make money, but also the customer. It needs to make sense. There's actually no point of delivering eVTOLs to customers that will demonstrate not to be profitable for the operator. It will just only, will be only selling, you know, 100 of them, and that will be it, will kill the segment, and that's not the purpose. So I think this is exactly the sweet balance that we're trying to look for with the customers, with the operators, to see first, yes, are we gonna be charging, and what's gonna be the cost of the eVTOL? You gotta get the return, and how much, you know, are you gonna be charging on the backs?

We all know that we want to go similar to the premium risk-sharing platform, but it's a long way, all right? You wanna make sure that you can do this effectively. So I think it's a partnership that we have with our customers, and both customers and ourself and suppliers need to be profitable, so if we want to be for the long run, and we want to be for the long run. For the second part, Valentini?

Luiz Valentini (CTO)

Yes. So hi, Marcelo, thank you for the question. So, you remember that ANAC is developing a certification basis specific for our eVTOL project, as is the case with the FAA. And it's very important that we understand what the requirements are early on in the project, so that we can define the vehicle solutions in a way that they will comply eventually with the requirements that are established, right? So, that's why we've been working so hard with ANAC, our primary certification authority, to get these requirements defined, and then be able to move on to other stages for, you know, that we call means of compliance, detailed design standards, which really are the way in which we will show compliance to the requirements that are defined, right?

We are confident in the step that we are today and how mature the basis of certification is, but of course, we need it to advance, and that's why we put that as one of the goals for this year. And so we are working both with ANAC, as I mentioned, and the FAA, to make sure that what we have established will support the development of the vehicle for, you know, the next phases of the project. We still have some significant uncertainties on how to align the bases with a bases of other authorities, EASA in Europe, for example. And we also have some significant uncertainty, and this is something that affects the whole industry, not only our project, on the operational requirements.

So both ANAC and the FAA are still developing what the operational requirements will be for these vehicles. This includes things like reserves for flight, but also includes training, pilot requirements, things like that. So there is still a lot to be done. This affects the development, and we are working on that with the authorities. With respect to entry into service in 2026, you mentioned, we're still maintaining that date. We think that based on where we are today on the project, that's still something that we are targeting, but also depends, as you pointed, on the development that we have on the certification basis and with the authorities in general.

Marcelo Motta (Research Analyst)

Perfect. Super clear. Thank you very much.

Johann Bordais (CEO)

Thanks. Val

Operator (participant)

The next question will be from Cai von Rumohr, from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Cai von Rumohr (Managing Director and Senior Aerospace and Defense Analyst)

Terrific. Thank you so much. Guys, when do you expect to basically start flight tests of the conforming prototype?

...Then secondly, when do you hope to start certification flight tests? And what are the other key milestones, you know, that we're looking for to get us to certification? And maybe give us some time frame. You know, I know it's not a specific date, but time frame as to when you might start those. Thank you.

Luiz Valentini (CTO)

Yeah. Hi, Cai. Thanks for the question.

So we are expecting to fly the prototypes in the second half of next year. We think that that's a timeline that supports the entry into service in 2026, because, as you know, there is some maturing of the vehicles to be done during flight. And then after this development period, that we really start to get credit for the flights towards certification. So there is usually, and that's the case with, let's say, all of the projects, even with fixed-wing airplanes, things like that, that you have some period in which you're flying to finalize, let's say, tuning of control laws, deflection of control surfaces, eventually any aerodynamic fixes that have to be made. So you finalize the configuration, definition, and in flight, and then you really get to a configuration in which you can start taking credit for certification.

So flying in the second half of next year is something that we believe will support, you know, this development still in time for entry into service in 2026. With respect to important milestones, until then, certainly the certification basis definition is one of them. We are working with ANAC, as we mentioned, now that we have the commenting period closed, trying to support them as much as we can in their process of finalizing the certification basis, but also advancing, as I mentioned earlier, discussion on means of compliance, for example. So these next steps of the certification process, such as defining what the means of compliance will be, and then the certification plans being approved by the authorities, will support the taking credit of the flights for certification.

There will be other stages that we will communicate after finalizing the certification basis. These, I believe, will also help you to see the progress and the preparedness for the start of the flight test for certification.

Cai von Rumohr (Managing Director and Senior Aerospace and Defense Analyst)

Thanks a lot. And then, what are the key technology challenges you anticipate? For example, you know, I know with Beta, which is the other eVTOL that has the lift cruise design, I think, you know, the transition from lift phase to cruise, you know, they basically, I think, have done it now, but that was, took them a little longer than expected. What, what do you think the, the key tech challenges are? Maybe for Valentini.

Luiz Valentini (CTO)

Sure. So, so I think there are a few. I mean, one, say, I think that everybody encountered first was making everything work with the electric, power, right? So by using batteries only, we know that the batteries today still are quite limited for, longer ranges, but also for higher payloads, right? So it's, making this integration and having the vehicles work, is, is a challenge I think that everybody that is on, you know, the stage of, development that we are, have already encountered. Then after that, there are some challenges with respect to flight. So for example, these vehicles, they don't have an inherent stability in flight that conventional fixed-wing configurations have, and so that means that we are much more dependent on the fly-by-wire flight control systems, for example.

And so this is something that has to be developed in these new transition phases or these new phases of flight that eVTOLs have, right? Being a lift plus cruise or a tilt rotor or any other configuration, there is a change in flight between the hover flight and the cruise flight that requires a lot of complexity on the fly-by-wire flight control. So, this is something that we see for us that will be a significant challenge also, but it's one that we feel prepared with the background that we bring from Embraer of developing flight control systems with fly-by-wire, something that we have been doing at Embraer, or that Embraer has been doing for the last few projects, right?

So Praetor, C-390, E2, these are all fly-by-wire airplanes in which we are basing very much of our technology, and it's something that we bring with very high maturity. So, I think that combining, just to summarize, you know, the systems with the battery power in the eVTOL flight, in the vertical flight, is a challenge that I think everybody has faced. And then getting this to fly in the different phases of flight, especially with the fly-by-wire and this that I mentioned, I think is something that will also be challenging for all of the manufacturers.

Cai von Rumohr (Managing Director and Senior Aerospace and Defense Analyst)

Terrific. Thank you. Great, great answer. I have one last question, which is, as you know, I think the FAA is expected to... has a schedule to finalize the operational requirements, where two of the keys are, what is the reserve requirement and the training? Do we need to be able to have two, two pilots up front to do the training? Do you know where they are on that? And do you still expect the FAA, and I assume ANAC also, to kind of reach finalization of the operational requirements? Because obviously, that will have some impact on whether your design needs to be changed or not. Thank you.

Luiz Valentini (CTO)

Yeah. Well, thank you, Cai. These are very important points. You've been following that the FAA has been going through, I think, quite a significant process in the development of these requirements, right? And the industry has had, I think, previously, an expectation that these would be finalized by now. There was, you remember the publication of a draft of these requirements last year. These were, I think received a significant pushback from the industry and a couple of the most important points are the ones you brought, right? But there is really, I think, an expectation that from the part of the industry, that they are finished soon, but we don't really have a very clear visibility from the FAA when that will happen.

So there is, I think that we have the same information that you mentioned, that we have the expectation that by the end of the year, there is going to be a new publication. We expect this to be final publication of the requirements. We expect, I think, as Eve, but also as industry, that there is significant change, for example, on the requirements for pilot training and reserves. But there's really not a clear statement from the FAA, where that will end. You know, where these will be when a final publication comes and when that will happen. So we still work with this time frame that you mentioned of the second semester, but without any more detail than that.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I will turn the conference back over to Lucio Aldworth for any closing remarks.

Lucio Aldworth (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Chad, and thanks to everyone who joined the call today. As you can see, we accomplished several important milestones this past quarter. We're fully engaged and moving fast, and there's much more to come. So we're going to continue updating you on our prototype, on the progress throughout the next few quarters, as well as the prototype, the progress, and look forward to meeting you in the upcoming events we are going to attend. As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me or to my team. Thanks and have a good day.

Operator (participant)

The conference has concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.