Leading U.K. electric air taxi developer Vertical Aerospace on Thursday opened a new aircraft assembly center at Cotswold Airport (EGBP) to build preproduction certification aircraft, as well as its first models intended for commercial service.
The company said the 60,000-square-foot facility, backed by a nearly $2 million investment, will produce up to 25 Valo electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis per year during its “early production phase.” It aims to increase that rate to 900 by 2035, the BBC reported.
In November 2024, Vertical said it was targeting at least 150 customer deliveries by 2030 and an annual production rate of 200 units by the end of that year.
The certification-conforming aircraft will be used for compliance demonstration and verification testing as Vertical works with the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) toward achieving type certification in 2029, a one-year slip from the ’28 target the company announced in late ’24. It expects to begin assembling first certification aircraft in late 2027 and has previously said it will build seven of them.
The facility will also support a hybrid-electric retrofit for one of the three full-scale prototypes Vertical has built, with flight testing targeted in the first half of 2027. The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense has shown interest in the hybrid variant of Valo for military applications.
Though Vertical said the site will support only “initial” customer deliveries, it plans to announce a separate, higher-volume production facility later this year. Michael Cervenka, Vertical’s chief commercial and technology officer, told FLYING in January that Valo will initially be manufactured in the U.K., but the company will look to establish production capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic.
“This will also have a strong Made in America approach for the U.S. customers,” Cervenka said.
Those include American Airlines, which preordered up to 250 aircraft plus 100 options and has paid to secure 50 delivery slots, and Bristow Group, which preordered up to 50 aircraft plus 50 options.
Vertical sees several U.S. markets and applications for Valo. In New York, operators could take advantage of the aircraft’s helicopter-like vertical capabilities and fixed-wing cruise for airport transfers, cross-town or weekend travel, aerial sightseeing, medical transfers, and shuttles to events at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“The U.S. is the biggest aviation market in the world,” Cervenka said. “In the near term, for eVTOLs, I think it will be the biggest market.”
From Prototype to Production
Fabrice Brégier, the former CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft whom Vertical appointed as its board chairman this week, said the assembly facility’s opening is “tangible evidence of the company’s progress as it moves from prototype development towards becoming an aircraft manufacturer.”
Brégier also previously served as Airbus’ chief operating officer, leading development of the A350 program, and was president and CEO of Eurocopter before it became Airbus Helicopters.
The new site adds about 60,000 square feet of space to Vertical’s existing facilities at Cotswold, where it also conducts flight testing. That gives it a total of about 130,000 square feet at the airport across engineering, aircraft assembly, ground operations, and flight test activities. The company believes colocating these activities will help aircraft move more quickly from assembly to testing.
The facility will integrate airframe structures from supplier Sonaca with Vertical’s proprietary battery systems, Evolito’s electric propulsion units, and Honeywell Aerospace’s Anthem flight deck.
Valo will feature eight electric engines powering eight propellers, four of which tilt to support both vertical and forward flight. Earlier this year, the company demonstrated the transition from hover to cruise flight—the defining capability of an eVTOL—using a prototype.
Valo has an intended all-electric range of about 100 miles, cruise speed of about 150 mph, and service altitude of about 2,000 feet and is designed primarily for transportation within cities and urban areas rather than between them.
It will accommodate four passengers at launch. But Cervenka said its cabin is large enough to accommodate three-abreast seating for up to six passengers in the future, which would beat competing U.S. designs such as Joby Aviation’s S4, Archer Aviation’s Midnight, and Beta Technologies’ Alia A250. Cervenka also believes Valo’s payload of about 1,200 pounds, with room for six checked and six carry-on bags, would be best in its class.
Flight controls comprise a simple joystick, Honeywell’s Anthem flight deck and digital fly-by-wire system, and three flight control computers, with a cockpit divider separating the pilot from passengers. The fly-by-wire system will adjust the speed and tilt of the propellers based on the joystick inputs to simplify operations for the pilot. Vertical also has a partnership with Near Earth Autonomy that aims to integrate a level of autonomy, first for defense and later for commercial applications.
What’s Next?
Vertical on Friday estimated it has about 1,500 preorders for Valo, the same figure it provided in 2024.
The company in 2025 estimated that it will cost about $700 million to certify Valo. In April, it secured a funding package worth up to $800 million that it said would be sufficient to fund testing and certification by 2028, though that timeline has since slipped due to flight test delays. In August, the firm announced further commitments of approximately $100 million from existing and new investors.
Still, Vertical is seeking further support. It said Thursday that it is working with financial advisor Jefferies to review “potential strategic and financial partnerships” for the “next stage of development.”
“We feel that now is the right time to explore our options for financing the next phase of our growth,” said CEO Stuart Simpson in a news release.
Vertical also said Thursday that it is “on track” to complete Valo’s critical design review (CDR) and expand its battery production center this year.
The company had previously been targeting mid-2026 for CDR, which would finalize the air taxi’s baseline design and allow it to begin building conforming prototypes at the new Cotswold center.
The expanded battery facility is expected to triple Vertical’s battery production capacity over time, it said.