2025 launch planned for air taxis
AN entrepreneur who founded Bristol utility company Ovo said his plans to pioneer a new air taxi service could slash journey times and cut emissions.
Vertical Aerospace founder and chief executive Stephen Fitzpatrick, who founded energy supplier Ovo, has told the Daily Mail he plans to revolutionise Britain’s transport network.
The company, which is based in the St Phillips area of the city, estimates that air taxis produce lower carbon emissions per mile than petrol cars or electric vehicles. The firm was founded in 2016 “with the vision of decarbonising air travel using the best technology from the aviation, energy and automotive industries”.
Described as a “major milestone” for electric flights, Vertical Aerospace has agreed a partnership with Heathrow to help launch the first air taxi flights by 2025.
Routes would include Heathrow to Canary Wharf in just 13 minutes for about £50 per passenger. An air taxi from Heathrow to Cambridge would take 28 minutes and cost £58. The firm’s four-seat VA-X4 aircraft will shuttle passengers to cities including
Oxford, Bristol and Southampton.
The Virgin Atlantic-operated, battery-powered air taxis would take off from Heathrow, Manchester and Gatwick airports.
As well as the airport shuttles, Vertical Aerospace plans to launch regional air routes connecting different cities across the UK, including Cardiff to Plymouth, Belfast to Glasgow, Liverpool to Hull and Aberdeen to Edinburgh. The electric flights will have top speeds of 200mph.
The air taxis will take off and land at ‘vertiports’, which could be based at airports, rural airfields, motorway service stations or on the rooftops of railway stations and office buildings. Inner-city sites could be used for short-distance air taxi services, hailed by using an app.
Mr Fitzpatrick told the Daily Mail: “This new-generation aircraft bridges the gap between communities separated by inconvenient public transport or impassable terrain.
“Because, unlike helicopters, they are safe, clean and quiet, they will deliver huge benefits for densely populated cities too.”
Mr Fitzpatrick described the air taxis as a “major milestone” for electric flights and said his firm is hoping to launch the first air taxi by 2025.
The electric planes are expected to produce around 5kg of carbon per passenger on a 90-mile flight, compared with 11kg for electric vehicles and 38kg for petrol cars.
This new-generation aircraft bridges the gap between communities STEPHEN FITZPATRICK