Central Florida inched closer to an air taxi reality on Wednesday as the Florida Department of Transportation announced a partnership with Eve Air Mobility to run electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) tests at SunTrax Air in Auburndale. The state plans to use the facility to study day-to-day operations, infrastructure readiness and passenger experience, with a proposed vertiport at Kissimmee Gateway Airport folded into the plan. The move lands as state policy and a federal pilot program help push advanced air mobility toward real-world use.
What FDOT and Eve announced
In a press release from Eve Air Mobility, CEO Johann Bordais said, "Florida recognizes its strategic role in the future of Advanced Air Mobility and is proactively building the ecosystem needed to support it." According to the announcement, Eve will provide aircraft, operations expertise and air traffic management tools at FDOT’s SunTrax Air so the partners can test how eVTOLs might plug into Florida’s broader transportation network.
SunTrax, Kissimmee and local plans
As reported by WFTV, the test flights will be based at SunTrax Air, which serves as FDOT’s dedicated research and testing hub for advanced air mobility. The work there will focus on infrastructure, procedures and passenger experience. WFTV also notes that a vertiport at Kissimmee Gateway Airport is part of Florida’s larger AAM strategy. SunTrax’s own materials describe the complex as a purpose-built environment designed to validate next-generation aviation concepts and ground operations at scale, which SunTrax outlines in more detail.
The policy push behind the tests
Florida has started clearing the runway on the policy side as well. State legislation gives FDOT authority to put money into vertiport infrastructure and designates SunTrax as the first testbed for that work. As outlined by FDOT, bills signed in June 2025 created funding and planning tools aimed at speeding up AAM development in the state. On top of that, the federal government named Florida as one of eight locations in the U.S. Advanced Air Mobility Integration Pilot Program, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Who Eve is and what comes next
Eve is a spin-out of Embraer’s urban air mobility effort and is backed by the aircraft manufacturer as it develops eVTOL aircraft, support services and air traffic management technology. As noted by Embraer, Eve has been moving its prototype through flight testing while working on the ecosystem needed for commercial service. Officials have not put a date on when passengers might actually board, saying the SunTrax program is focused on validating procedures before any public flights are proposed.
What residents should watch for
Local officials say the testing will involve coordination with the FAA and community outreach as procedures are refined and infrastructure is evaluated, and Kissimmee leaders have pointed to 401 Dyer Boulevard as the likely vertiport location. Details on the airport’s role in regional AAM planning are available through FlyKissimmee. FDOT and Eve have emphasized that SunTrax is intended to serve as a controlled environment to work through safety, noise, and operational questions before any commercial service is considered for Central Florida neighborhoods.
