Vertical Aerospace, a British company backed by Honeywell, Rolls-Royce and American Airlines, is rapidly gaining ground in bringing its electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to market.
The company, which has been pioneering zero-emissions aviation since 2016, aims to become readily available for consumers in the next three years.
Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson, who succeeded the company’s founder Stephen Fitzpatrick in May 2024, told FOX Business that the company’s zero-emission aircraft, known as VX4, has a cruise speed of about 150 mph and can travel upward of 100 miles on a single charge. To Simpson, its commercialization will mark the first step toward a future of having “highways in the sky.”
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While the idea of flying taxis may seem farfetched years ago, today there’s about $2.5 billion flowing into the main competitors in the sector, including Vertical, according to Simpson.
“You are really seeing people believe in this now,” he said. “Capital flowing to the [original equipment manufacturers]… into infrastructure and regulation evolving. So it’s all coming to pass now.”
Currently, all the major players in the sector are partnering with airlines with plans to use electric aircraft for transporting passengers to and from international flights, with plans to launch within the next few years. All of them have positioned their service as a premium offering, with Simpson saying this will be initially tailored for business-class passengers.
He pegged the price point at approximately $2 per seat per kilometer, which he equated to the cost of an Uber Black. However, since Vertical Aerospace is an original equipment manufacturer, Simpson said the final fare for passengers will be determined by the airlines that buy the aircraft.
Vertical’s aircraft will be required to pass strict safety checks from U.K. and European aviation authorities, known as the UK CAA/EASA SC-VTOL enhanced category certification standards. They will first become available for passenger service in the U.K. in 2028. Within three to six months of its European debut, the company aims to enter the U.S. market.
Its competitors are eyeing a similar timeline as they race to mark a milestone in the industry. One of them, Archer Aviation, which is working in partnership with United Airlines, is planning to debut its aircraft, dubbed Midnight, as early as this year in Abu Dhabi. The company said it is also aiming to launch in New York City as soon as 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Joby Aviation, which is simultaneously working in partnership with Delta Air Lines and Uber to develop its own electric flying taxis, also plans to launch its operations in Dubai as early as this year, with U.S. operations expected in the next few years, pending completion of the FAA certification process.
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Simpson is confident in Vertical’s trajectory.
“I’m not building a supply chain of things we don’t understand. I’m working with the world’s leading aerospace companies to pull this aircraft together,” he said.
Vertical distinguishes itself among the pack with a capital-efficient original equipment manufacturing business model. The company is aiming to create the most powerful battery in the market. It has also constructed the cabin to fit four business-class seats and up to 70 pounds of luggage per passenger, though it can scale to six seats. The passenger cabin is also separated from the pilot by a barrier at the front of the aircraft.
“We’ve been working with them for four years, and we’ve mapped out the routes that they want to do and how they want use the aircraft,” Simpson said. “What you want for that is to be able to have a comfy experience for a business-class passenger… so we’ve sized our aircraft to do that job.”
The company has already secured between $7 billion to $8 billion in orders from carriers such as American Airlines – which placed 350 orders – along with Japan Airlines and AirAsia.
Vertical is also developing a hybrid version of the aircraft that has a range of up to 1,000 miles, and handles a payload of up to 60,000 pounds, allowing the company to tap into the defense market, Simpson said.
“Our core product is electric, but you can imagine the military love the idea of silent takeoff and landing, and the ability to cruise, carrying people or things significant distances,” he added.
Ultimately, Simpson envisions that consumers will be able to leverage these for their daily commutes. He argued that current ground transportation in major cities worldwide is already struggling and will only worsen with an estimated half-billion more people moving into cities over the next
“You can’t build your way out of it because there’s no road space, you can’t tunnel your way out of that, so everyone’s looking at the low-altitude economy,” he said. “You’re going to gradually see these being adopted as the first step to the highways in the sky.”
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