Vertical reports milestone trifecta for its VX4 eVTOL air taxi

Advanced air mobility company Vertical Aerospace has announced several significant developments in its work advancing its VX4 aircraft toward air taxi service, including reception of what it says is the first Design Organization Approval issued by UK regulators for a passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL).

Vertical said the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recently granted its first-ever eVTOL Design Organization Approval for the VX4, a requisite for its certification and eventual launch in air taxi activity. The authorization permits the company to analyze and accept various aspects of aircraft design and related component proposals without needing additional approval from the regulator. 

Read: Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 eVTOL completes its first test flight

In being allowed to act as its own supervisor in that way, Vertical will be able to move faster and with more flexibility in continuing to develop the craft.

The move came just weeks after the CAA confirmed it will be adopting the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s Means of Compliance to SC-VTOL ­­– something it initially indicated it would do in the stormy wake of Brexit. 

Read more: Brexit schmexit: UK’s CAA to use Europe’s eVTOL certification standards

Officialization of that harmonization will further facilitate the work Vertical launched last year to seek concurrent type certification of the VX4 eVTOL from UK and EU regulators, and begin air taxi operations in both airspaces around the same time.

Rounding out its trifecta of announcements, Vertical said it had formally initiated its eVTOL certification campaign in Japan, following the acceptance of the VX4 air taxi’s validation proposal by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB).

Vertical has signed a deal with Japan Airlines for up to 100 VX4 pre-orders, and earlier this year penned accords with the country’s Marubeni Corporation for up to 200 aircraft.

Read: Vertical receives pre-payment for 25 eVTOL planes from Japan AAM operator Marubeni

The move makes the JCAB the fourth regulator Vertical is working with on type certification, along with the CAA, EASA, and US Federal Aviation Agency, which have all accepted proposed authorization procedures for the VX4. 

Vertical CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick cheered all three milestones, but singled out the unprecedented design approval in the company’s domestic market as particularly rewarding.

“I am immensely proud that Vertical is the first British electric aircraft company in history to receive a DOA from the UK aviation regulator,” he said. “This approval is a critical step forward in our mission to decarbonize air travel and bring the UK’s first electric aircraft to market. We are grateful for the CAA’s commitment to advancing sustainable aviation, which allows us to build on the UK’s proud aerospace tradition.”