High-tech flying taxi achieves major milestone with first-of-its-kind flight: 'A powerful demonstration'

In England, the world's first hybrid-electric air taxi completed its first flight between two airports.

During the Royal International Air Tattoo airshow in July 2025, Vertical Aerospace unveiled the VX-4 eVTOL, a hybrid-electric air taxi that flew from the Vertical Aerospace Flight Test Center at Cotswold Airport to RAF Fairford, a 17-mile journey. 

According to New Atlas, it was the first flight of its kind, piloted by a commercial service with clearance from the country's airport operations. The VX-4 has an estimated electric range of 100 miles and can carry up to 1.1 tonnes (1.2 tons).

"Flying the VX4 from airport to airport is a major milestone, and a powerful demonstration of the real-world capability of the aircraft," said Vertical Aerospace's chief test pilot, Simon Davies, per New Atlas. 

"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 defense and special mission operations."

Electric vehicles are becoming a more popular choice, especially for motor vehicles, as they don't produce air pollution while in motion and save drivers money on fuel and maintenance. 

For air travel, this is even more important, as air travel accounts for 2.4% of all the world's planet-warming gas emissions, per the International Council on Clean Transportation. 

However, electric planes are still not commonplace, due to the weight complications of the size of the battery that would be needed to transport people in the air. 

Now, prototypes like the VX-4 from Vertical Aerospace show that flights are becoming more possible with electric batteries. 

In 2023, Eviation's prototype nine-passenger plane could fly 300 miles on a single charge. The Atlantic predicted that by 2045, passengers will be able to fly on an electric plane with 100 passengers.

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Vertical Aerospace is partnering with Honeywell to make the VX-4 prototype safer, with the aim of certifying the air taxi in 2028 for real-world use.

"By integrating production-ready technologies, we're helping build an aircraft that meets the highest safety standards in aviation, solidifying its certifiability and exportability across global markets," said Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, in a statement.

"With a shared commitment to innovation, reliability and safety, we're excited to deepen our partnership with Vertical to help scale the technology necessary to bring even more advanced, efficient, safe and reliable solutions to the skies," added David Shilliday, vice president and general manager of Advanced Air Mobility at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies.

One commenter shared their excitement for the future tech.

"The revolution has begun!!" they wrote. "Excellent!"

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