Air Taxi Vertiport with Passenger Terminal Planned for UK

A vertiport design for electric taxi takeoff and landings by Skyports Infrastructure has received planning permission at a 444-acre mobility center in Bicester, U.K.

The vertiport is believed to be the first permanent U.K. vertiport infrastructure proposal to receive planning consent.

The facility would include a 1,700-square-foot passenger terminal and a facility for testing ground and flight operations.

“With the green light from Cherwell District Council, now begins the exciting stage in vertiport development: building it,” said Skyports chief executive Duncan Walker. “The tests and trials we conduct at this facility will be instrumental to the future of quiet, electric, vertical flight. Our vertiport at Bicester Motion will facilitate important learnings and demonstrations that advance the adoption of AAM.”

Skyports is partnering with electric aerial vehicle (EAV) maker Vertical Aerospace and plans to feature Vertical’s latest VX4 prototype, the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle to fly at the new vertiport.

“The Skyports vertiport is a critical piece of infrastructure, helping to get our VX4 aircraft up into the air and demonstrate to the world that the future of flight is electric,” said Michael Cervenka, chief commercial and technology officer at Vertical Aerospace. “We’re excited to see what the vertiport will look like as we move into an important phase of the industry – making this real.”

Related:Air Taxi Company Plans for French Riviera Operations

Vertical Aerospace earlier this year received funding of $50 million from Stephen Fitzpatrick, the company founder and CEO.

Vertical is completing its second-generation, full-scale piloted VX4 prototype at GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Center in the U.K.

The EAV is designed to carry four passengers and has a range of 100 miles.

ThOther vertiports are beinglanned around the world.

For example, Vertiport operator UrbanV and construction and technology infrastructure company Icad Holdings are working together to develop the infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the Mideast to support advanced air mobility (AAM).

The companies aim to establish a blueprint for vertiport operations and define a plan to operate vertiports in the Middle East.

UrbanV and Icad plan to jointly explore opportunities for projects in AAM and urban air mobility (UAM) across the region.

The infrastructure plan would include takeoff and landing procedures, technology integration and operation plans for vertiports and vertiport networks.

UrbanV plans and designs vertiports including route evaluations and interactions with regulators while Icad does construction, technology integration and operational management 

Related:Flying Taxi Infrastructure Targeted for Saudi Arabia, Mideast

UrbanV is involved in other ventures in addition to the partnership with Icad.

For example, UrbanV teamed with EAV jet maker Lilium and airport management company Aeroports de la Cote d’Azur to bring Lilium electric jet flight to the South of France starting in 2026.

The plan is to create a network to connect the French Riviera with Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Golfe de Saint-Tropez, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.

The partners plan to establish and operate eVTOL vehicles within a network of vertiports including Nice Côte d’Azur airport, the second-largest airport in France, with Cannes Mandelieu Airport and Golfe de Saint-Tropez Airport.

For flying vehicles such as air taxis, vertiports are needed for takeoff and landings, passenger loading and unloading and charging and maintenance.

Numerous companies in Europe and the Middle East are involved in vertiport development along with companies in the U.S., such as Volatus Infrastructure in Wisconsin and Aeroauto Global in Florida.