Vertical Aerospace Achieves Historic Airport-to-Airport eVTOL Flight

Jul 20, 2025
1 min read

Vertical Aerospace Achieves Historic Airport-to-Airport eVTOL Flight

On July 16, 2025, Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL) completed the world’s first public airport-to-airport flight of a full-scale, piloted winged tilt-rotor eVTOL, flying its VX4 prototype from Cotswold Airport to RAF Fairford ahead of its debut at the The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the world’s largest military airshow.

Key Milestones:

✅ First ever piloted eVTOL flight between public airports

⚡ Speeds up to 115 mph; altitude 1,800 ft

🛫 Real-world airport operations integration

🛰️ Showcasing defense and special mission potential, including hybrid-electric variants with up to 1,000-mile range

This moment marks a significant leap toward certified deployment and underlines the VX4's future role in defense, logistics, and sustainable aviation.

“Flying the VX4 from airport to airport is a major milestone, and a powerful demonstration of the real-world capability of the aircraft. To bring it to RIAT, among some of the world’s most advanced military aircraft, is a proud moment - and a powerful signal of the role that a new generation of aircraft will play in defence and special mission operations, ” said Chief Test Pilot Simon Davies.

Image Credits: Vertical Aerospace

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