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U.K.’s Vertical Aerospace Unveils NYC Electric Air Taxi Network

The U.K.’s leading electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi developer has landed in the U.S., announcing plans for a New York City-area network.

Vertical Aerospace, which in December unveiled its flagship Valo air taxi in London, this week brought a full-scale model to NYC, where it will be on display at the Classic Car Club Manhattan on Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. The event will be open to the public, with no tickets required.

Vertical on Monday also provided the first glimpse of its planned New York air taxi routes, which it will develop with partners Bristow Group and Skyports.

Per a map the company shared, Skyports’ Downtown Skyport location—operated jointly with Groupe ADP since April after the partners acquired, renamed, and began electrifying the Downtown Manhattan Heliport—will be the network’s hub. Planned connections include John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK) and East Hampton Airport (KJPX) on Long Island, as well as Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR) and Teterboro Airport (KTEB) in New Jersey.

“New York is a natural next step to explore how electric aviation could support urban and regional travel in the U.S., working with partners like Bristow and Skyports to keep safety, certification and real-world operations at the core,” said Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical, in a statement.

Valo Lands in the U.S.

On Friday, members of the public and Vertical investors, customers, and partners will get a first opportunity to see the company’s full-scale aircraft in person. The display will include a charging point, replica cockpit, functioning cabin space, and luggage hold, though it will lack real batteries or electronics, a Vertical spokesperson told FLYING.

Per Vertical, Valo will have an all-electric range of about 100 miles, cruise speed of about 150 mph, and service altitude of about 2,000 feet. It will launch with four seats but could later be expanded to six. Billed as an improvement on the firm’s VX4 prototype, the model will be “bigger, safer and more capable than anything in the sector,” Domhnal Slattery, Vertical’s chairman, said in December.

Among the upgrades are improved aerodynamics and materials and redesigned wing and propellers. A “more aerodynamic” airframe, for example, will be produced by Aciturri with materials from Syensqo. Other third-party components and systems include a carbon composite fuselage from Leonardo and Honeywell’s Anthem flight deck and digital fly-by-wire system.

Propulsion will come from an under-floor battery system comprising eight liquid-cooled packs, each powering a carbon-fiber composite tilt propeller. The battery and propeller systems, which are proprietary, will generate less than 50 dBA of noise during cruise—akin to the volume of a washing machine, Simpson told BBC Today in December.

Valo’s interior will feature panoramic windows, a cockpit divider, and “class-leading luggage capacity,” with capacity for up to 1,200 pounds and space for six cabin bags and six checked bags. Per Simpson, those premium features will come at an affordable price—about the same cost per seat per kilometer as a cab.

“It’s a bit like an iPhone,” he told BBC Today. “When this launches, it’ll be a premium product for the first couple of years just to prove out the routes, prove out the infrastructure. But we’ve already modeled this out on over 1,200 routes with customers.”

Vertical says it has about 1,500 customer preorders for Valo. Among them is Bristow, which has an agreement for up to 50 aircraft and 50 options. Using its U.K. air operator certification, the company plans to offer the aircraft as part of a suite that also includes pilots, maintenance, and insurance.

Working with Skyports, Bristow intends to operate Valo out of Skyports London Heliport in Canary Wharf in 2029, once the aircraft is certified. The partners will offer 12-minute trips to London Heathrow Airport (EGLL), London Gatwick Airport (EGKK), Cambridge City Airport (EGTK), and Skyports’ Bicester location in Oxford. The Bicester site is expected to host VX4 demonstrations early this year in support of a potential route between Oxford and Cambridge.

Bristow is further exploring eVTOL aircraft from Beta Technologies, Electra, Embraer’s Eve Air Mobility, and cargo drone developer Elroy Air.

“Bristow operates complex aviation services all over the world, from offshore energy to government and passenger transport,” said Chris Bradshaw, president and CEO of Bristow. “Exploring future eVTOL use cases in a market like New York allows us to apply that operational experience to new, sustainable aviation concepts as the technology and regulatory environment continue to mature.”

Other Valo customers include American Airlines, Japan Air Lines, and Héli Air Monaco, announced in December.

Future Air Taxi Network

Vertical’s planned New York City-area network centers around the Downtown Skyport.

In December, Skyports said electrification of the site for a variety of novel aircraft is “well underway,” with eVTOL charge sites expected to be operational by the end of 2026. Executives from Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, and Beta Technologies attended the Downtown Skyport’s unveiling in April, signaling that their electric air taxis could join Valo in the skies over Manhattan.

Skyports in 2025 broke ground on its first location near Dubai International Airport (OMDB) in the United Arab Emirates, where it is working with Joby and Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority to power on an air taxi network in the coming months. It is building additional sites in Abu Dhabi, Ajman, and Ras al Khaimah.

The company in 2025 also announced the first of several planned vertiports for Archer’s Florida air taxi network, with at least one more location in Miami to be announced this year.

“Evaluating potential use cases around Downtown Skyport helps demonstrate how our infrastructure could support a wide range of journeys—from airports and events to leisure and urban connections—as electric aviation develops,” said Duncan Walker, president and CEO of Skyports.

Vertical Aerospace electric air taxi route map for Manhattan, New York City, and New Jersey
Vertical shared a map of potential electric air taxi routes linking the Downtown Skyport to airports in Long Island and New Jersey. [Credit: Vertical Aerospace]

Vertical, Skyports, and Bristow are evaluating a variety of operations beyond airport transfers, such as weekend or leisure travel to East Hampton. Crosstown links between the Downtown Skyport and other locations, such as the West 30th Street (KJRA) or East 40th Street (6N5) heliports, could enable short hops across Manhattan. The central location could even serve as a hub for out-and-back aerial sightseeing trips.

In addition, Vertical said the network could enable game-day travel between Manhattan and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey—home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets and a 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer venue—using Teterboro airport. Also feasible are medical transfers to the Westchester County Medical Center or New York University’s Langone hospital system.

By 2028, Vertical hopes to obtain European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for Valo in the special condition for VTOL (SC-VTOL) category, which would permit commercial air transport operations and flights over densely populated areas. The company aims to achieve “airliner-level safety standards,” meeting the FAA and EASA’s 10-9 requirement for one catastrophic event per billion flight hours. In September, it said certification would cost about $700 million.

By 2030, Vertical hopes to produce 175 aircraft. By the end of that year, it plans to ramp up to 225 annually. Early operations will comprise passenger flights between airports and city centers. But in the future Valo could come in cargo, defense, emergency medical services, hybrid, or autonomous configurations.

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