Flying e-taxi company celebrates key milestone

Vertical Aerospace is the second company in the world to start testing low-speed manoeuvres of an all-electric vertical take-off aircraft

A company developing an electric aircraft is celebrating a key milestone.

Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace (VA) has successfully carried out piloted hover flight tests using its so-called electric flying taxi at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire.

Bosses have now moved on to testing low-speed manoeuvres. They are the second company in the world to conduct this type of testing, which include rolls and spot turns.

Stuart Simpson, chief executive of VA, said it was a "fantastic achievement".

Mr Simpson said the first-use flights, which could take place in 2028, will be from airports to local business districts and will carry four passengers up to 100 miles (161km).

"If you think of the global megacities, they just don't work anymore from a land transportation [perspective].

"You can't build your way out of them because there's not enough space for roads, you can't tunnel your way out of them because of the expense, so you've got to look to that low altitude economy," Mr Simpson said.

Mr Simpson said he was confident the VX4 would make it to production

Simon Davies, VA's chief testing pilot, said the new aircraft was "unlike anything he'd flown before".

"It's so quiet you can hear the rumble of the tyres on the tarmac and other aircraft flying past," he said.

Vertical Aerospace has now moved on to manoeuvre testing for their VX4 aircraft

David King, VA's chief engineer, has spent 35 years in the helicopter industry, said the plane's eight propellers help with its safety.

"Comparing it to a typical helicopter that has one engine and one rotor system. If they have a failure, you're going down, gravity is going to win. However with eight, it provides a level of fault tolerance," he said.

In 2024, the firm secured a $50m (£39m) investment from the US investor, Mudrick Capital.

Mr Simpson added: "If you look at the financial side of things, the market is really backing this now."

When launched, the journeys will likely to be in three categories: airport shuttles, between locations with "gaps in ground transportation" such as between Manchester and Leeds, and sightseeing trips, a company spokesperson previously said.