- Vertical Aerospace has opened an Aircraft Assembly Centre for its Valo electric air taxi at Cotswold Airport (Kemble), UK, on September 25, 2026.
- The £1.5 million, 60,000ft² (5,570m²) facility sits alongside Vertical’s Flight Test Centre, taking its Cotswold footprint to about 130,000ft² (12,080m²).
- The centre will build certification-conforming Valo aircraft, with first assembly expected in the fourth quarter of 2027 and UK Type Certification targeted for 2029.
- Co-locating assembly with flight test lets aircraft move from final assembly through ground and flight testing and shortens engineering feedback loops.
- Fabrice Brégier, former Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO, became Vertical’s chair on September 21, 2026.
- Vertical has begun a review of strategic alternatives, including potential partnerships, with Jefferies as financial advisor, to fund its next phase.
Vertical Aerospace has opened an aircraft assembly centre for its Valo eVTOL aircraft at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, UK, in a move heralded by the company as marking its shift from prototype development toward manufacturing.
Assembly and flight testing in one place
The Aircraft Assembly Centre is adjacent to Vertical’s Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport. Locating aircraft assembly alongside Vertical’s existing engineering and flight-test operations will let aircraft move efficiently from final assembly through ground and flight testing, and shorten feedback loops between manufacturing, engineering and flight-test teams – reducing integration risk and supporting efficient execution of the certification program, said the company.
The £1.5 million (US$2 million) centre adds 60,000ft² (5,570m²) of assembly space and takes Vertical’s Cotswold footprint to about 130,000ft² (12,080m²) across engineering, assembly, ground operations and flight test. Staff at the center will build certification-conforming Valo aircraft for compliance testing, with the first expected to be assembled toward the end of 2027, as Vertical works toward UK Civil Aviation Authority Type Certification in 2029.
The centre is the first stage of a planned manufacturing scale-up and is designed to build more than 25 Valo aircraft a year in early production. It will also host the retrofit of a Valo prototype for hybrid-electric flight testing in the first half of 2027.
A separate full-scale production site is due to be announced in the coming months.
Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, said, “Opening our Aircraft Assembly Centre is an important step in Vertical’s transition from prototype developer to aircraft manufacturer, and another milestone delivered as we advance Valo towards certification.
“By bringing aircraft assembly and flight testing together at Cotswold Airport, we can work more efficiently, reduce execution risk and remain focused on our target of certifying Valo in 2029.”
New chair with Airbus pedigree
Fabrice Brégier, chair of Vertical Aerospace, who attended the opening, said, “I am delighted to be here today for one of my first engagements as Chair of Vertical. Having spent much of my career bringing complex aircraft programmes into production, I know how important it is to develop manufacturing capability in step with certification.”
Brégier became Vertical’s chair on September 21, succeeding interim chair Ben Story. He was CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft from 2012 to 2016 and led development of the A350, and has also run Eurocopter, now Airbus Helicopters, and missile maker MBDA, and served as president of Palantir Technologies France.
Review of strategic options
The moves come as Vertical reviews its strategic alternatives, including potential strategic and financial partnerships, to fund the next phase of development. It has appointed the firm Jefferies as financial advisor, recently raised about US$100 million, and says its certification program and commercial commitments will continue throughout the review.
The review follows a busy year for Vertical, during which the company flew its first piloted transition flight of a full-scale tiltrotor eVTOL under regulatory supervision and gave five days of demonstrations at the Farnborough International Airshow. The company is targeting UK Type Certification of Valo in 2029, having pushed the date back from an earlier target.
Vertical’s Valo design
The Valo is a four- to six-passenger eVTOL with a target cruise speed of 150mph (241km/h) over a range of 100 miles (161km). It uses eight liquid-cooled battery packs sit beneath the floor to power eight propellers, with the four forward units four-bladed and tilting for cruise.
Vertical has a fleet of three VX4 prototypes, the final of which was rolled out in December 2025 to double flight-test capacity and support public demonstrations through 2026, including at the Farnborough International Airshow in July. The aircraft will later be retrofitted as the hybrid-electric demonstrator.
