Flying taxi service ‘set to transform city travel’
FLYING taxis are set to shuttle passengers between UK cities, including Plymouth, in just a few years’ time.
The project is being masterminded by Bristol-based firm Vertical Aerospace, in partnership with Virgin Atlantic airline and Heathrow Airport.
As well as airport shuttles, Vertical Aerospace plans to launch regional air routes opening up new connections across the UK, including a Cardiff to Plymouth route.
Company documents show the expected fare for a 41-minute flight from Cardiff to Plymouth would be £89. By car, the 151-mile journey takes around two hours and 40 minutes.
Vertical Aerospace founder and chief executive Stephen Fitzpatrick, who previously founded energy supplier Ovo, has told the Daily Mail he plans to revolutionise Britain’s transport network.
The company 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 also including Oxford, Bristol and Southampton.
The Virgin Atlantic operated, battery-powered air taxis would launch 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, making flights about three times quicker than car journeys and five times faster than the train.
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 train stations and office buildings. Innercity sites could be used for short-distance ‘air taxi’ services, hailed by using an app.
Mr Fitzpatrick estimates that air taxis will produce lower carbon emissions per mile than cars using petrol or electric vehicles. He 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 – more convenience and less congestion.”
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 produce around 5kg of carbon per passenger on a 90-mile flight, compared to 11kg for electric vehicles and 38kg for petrol cars.