UK military ‘eyes innovative electric flying taxi’ as 2029 launch planned

Vertical Aerospace made the first public demonstration of its Valo electric VTOL aircraft Valo transitioning from flight using aeroplane wings to vertical descent. Photograph: Toby Shepheard/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Vertical Aerospace made the first public demonstration of its Valo electric VTOL aircraft Valo transitioning from flight using aeroplane wings to vertical descent. Photograph: Toby Shepheard/AFP/Getty Images UK military ‘eyes innovative electric flying taxi’ as 2029 launch planned Vertical Aerospace says government has given £10m backing, taking its total investment in the project to £48m British flying taxi startup Vertical Aerospace has said the UK government has expressed interest in buying a military variant of its aircraft as it races to gain approval for flights with paying passengers. Vertical also welcomed another £10m grant from the government, taking its total UK state funding to £48m . The company demonstrated its prototype model of the flying taxi on Monday at the Farnborough international airshow, an industry event at an airfield west of London. The aircraft is one of several electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft which manufacturers are hoping will revolutionise urban transport by landing quietly – relative to a helicopter – in built-up areas with no direct emissions. Vertical Aerospace's electric plane can take off and land vertically - loop However, those companies have found it much harder than initially expected to start flying passengers, and several have collapsed after an investment bubble during the coronavirus pandemic burst. Vertical itself faced a cash crisis in 2024 which led to the eventual exit of founder Stephen Fitzpatrick, the owner of energy company Ovo . It was taken over by the US distressed debt investor Jason Mudrick. The company survived and is now going through the complex process of gaining certification for a totally new aircraft from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority. It is racing against its US rival Joby Aviation , which has also switched from conventional to vertical flight in public tests from New York’s JFK airport to Manhattan. Other rivals that are further behind are Eve, owned by Brazilian jet maker Embraer, and the US startup Archer Aviation – as well as several Chinese companies. Monday’s flight was the first public demonstration of Vertical’s aircraft transitioning from conventional flight using its aeroplane wings to vertical flight – when four of its propellers tilt upwards. The aircraft flew in to land on the runway at Farnborough, before hovering in the air, helicopter-like, and dropping slowly to the tarmac. View image in fullscreen Vertical Aerospace’s Valo electric VTOL aircraft at the Farnborough international airshow. Photograph: Toby Shepheard/AFP/Getty Images Vertical’s focus remains on its electric model, which offers the prospect of flight with no direct carbon dioxide pollution, but it is also working on a hybrid system that will add a g