Cotswolds home to UK's first air taxi centre

Cotswolds home to UK's first air taxi centre A new installation in the Cotswolds will host the United Kingdom’s first dedicated centre for assembling electric air taxis, Vertical Aerospace announced. The Bristol‑based company said the facility at Cotswold Airport, near Kemble in Gloucestershire, represents a “once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity”. The Valo aircraft currently under development and testing at the site are electric, designed to carry four passengers and travel up to 160 km (100 mi) with zero operating emissions, according to the firm. Blair McDougall, Minister for Reindustrialisation, stated the centre would “help turn British innovation into British manufacturing”. Vertical Aerospace added that the new assembly hall provides 60,000 sq ft (5,574 sq m) of extra space alongside its existing flight‑test centre at the airport. The company expects operational flights of the Valo craft to commence in late 2027, with an initial production rate of 25 aircraft per year, scaling up to 900 per year by 2035. Vertical said it has secured 1,500 orders, many from airlines, and aims to obtain commercial certification for the planes by 2029. Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, remarked: “We're getting truly adjacent to this thought of flying cars, flying taxis.” “Opening our craft assembly centre is an important measurement successful Vertical's modulation from prototype developer to craft manufacturer.” “Bringing a new class of craft to marketplace is simply a once-in-a-generation accidental and it is particularly rewarding to bash that present successful Great Britain, drafting connected the country's arrogant aviation heritage.” McDougall further described the project as “exactly the benignant of concern we privation to spot much of arsenic we enactment to reindustrialise Britain, creating high-skilled section jobs and strengthening our manufacturing base”. Suzannah Harvey, chief executive of Cotswold Airport, said she was “delighted” to host the new centre, noting it strengthens the airport’s “growing relation as a hub for aerospace innovation”. Plans for a separate full‑scale production site intended to support higher‑volume manufacturing are expected to be announced early this year.