UK regulator expands Vertical Aerospace's role in eVTOL certification

"This is another positive step forward in recognizing that Vertical has the engineering capability to obtain certification for the VX4 aircraft," said Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson. "Our world-class engineering and design teams, combined with our partnership with leading aerospace companies and our state-of-the-art facilities in the UK, set us up well to achieve certification to the highest safety standards in the world."

Vertical Aerospace has opted not to showcase its VX4 at this month's Farnborough International Airshow as initially planned. Instead, it will focus on preparing its second prototype for flight testing at Cotswold Airport. This decision was confirmed on July 5.

The new prototype includes more hardware from partners such as Honeywell, Leonardo, and GKN Aerospace. It features new propellers designed by Vertical following an investigation into a crash on August 9, 2023, which destroyed its first prototype. Additionally, it uses batteries developed by Vertical's Energy Centre at their Bristol headquarters.

"While it was always going to be ambitious for a novel aircraft prototype program like ours, we had been aiming to demonstrate the new VX4 at Farnborough," stated Vertical Aerospace in a written statement. "After careful consideration, we decided to prioritize progressing the flight test program this summer from our Flight Test Centre instead."