MANTA AIRCRAFT and AVIONORD sign an agreement aimed at developing a version of the Manta ANN platform for rapid Medical Air Transport services.

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Sesto Calende, Italy, 2nd May 2022 - Manta Aircraft Italia S.r.l. (“Manta Aircraft”), and Avionord S.r.l. ("Avionord"), a private air transport company highly specialized in Medical Air Transport, have entered into an agreement to field in the future as many as 15 hybrid-electric long-range vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft derived from the Manta Aircraft "ANN" platform in medical services configuration. Avionord also invests in Manta Aircraft and takes a stake in the company. Deliveries are expected to start in 2026.

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The agreement enables a promising partnership that will foster the development of an ecosystem and

a timely establishment of Advanced Air Mobility. The use of the innovative aircraft platform is planned above all in the area of special transports of organs for transplants, transport of equipment for re-perfusion of organs destined for transplantation as well as for possible rapid-intervention operations. The vertical take-off and landing option, for

example to connect helipads from two hospitals in different cities, coupled with the long range and low infrastructure requirements, result in new point-to-point capabilities and economic efficiencies in the regional range, as this solution represents a significant cost saving and noise reduction compared to conventional helicopters.

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“We are honored to be working with Manta Aircraft. After analyzing the market and considering our time-critical missions, we see that the Manta ANN platform is today the only eVTOL offering a range of several hundred kms, which is useful for the missions to transport quickly organs for transplantation from one hospital to another, avoiding being dependent on airports and road transport. The ANN eVTOLs will enable us to reduce the transportation time of the organs, that have a limited life when not connected to the dedicated machines, using aircraft with a reduced operating cost," says Avionord, CEO Eugenio Cremascoli.

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Lucas Marchesini, CEO of Manta Aircraft, adds: “We are very pleased of this partnership with Avionord, who have recognized the uniqueness of the ANN platform in terms of range, pushing into the direction of creating a real use case that will contribute to the rapid establishment of Advanced Air Mobility. From the outset, the design of the aircraft was planned for a relevant range and speed in combination with the low infrastructure requirements and overall costs at a fraction of the cost of a helicopter, in order to be suitable for this kind of operations."

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The investment of Avionord in Manta Aircraft follows the investment of other Italian tech companies and of the State-led CDP VC, in the effort to expedite creating an Italian AAM ecosystem. Manta Aircraft is developing a range of performance-oriented hybrid-electric long-range vertical and short take-off and landing air vehicles (heV/STOL) for regional air mobility and plans to begin certification of the first two-seat, multi-purpose model ANN2 in 2023.

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Assets and Imagery: https://we.tl/t-E5jaTvw9Do

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Foto:

From left to right: Michael Mesaric and Lucas Marchesini, Co-Founders of Manta Aircraft, Eugenio

Cremascoli, CEO of Avionord.

Rendering: Mondlicht Studios

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For further inquiries:

Michael Mesaric, Co-Founder, Head of Marketing & Operations, m.mesaric@mantaaircraft.com