Virgin Atlantic Builds Flying Taxi Fleet
Sir Richard Branson Building Flying Taxi Fleet From UK's Vertical Aerospace
Branson's Plans for Flying Taxis
Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson is looking to expand his fleet of aircraft and spacecraft. He is investing in the UK air taxi company Vertical Aerospace and is planning on buying a fleet of their air taxis. The air taxis are a strategic addition to his Virgin Atlantic aircraft and his Virgin Galactic spacecraft. Branson has entered into a partnership with Vertical Aerospace to purchase 150 flying taxi eVTOLS, which are electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. Entrepreneur Branson, whose expertise is aviation and aerospace, provides a ringing endorsement to the future of eVTOL, flying taxi travel.
Technical Details on the eVTOL VA-X4
The flying taxis that Branson is purchasing are the VA-X4. Vertical Aerospace was founded and is run by the highly successful, Belfast born entrepreneur Stephen Fitzgerald, who also founded OVO Energy in the UK. According to Vertical Aerospace, the VA-X4 flies silently at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. It is all electric, zero-emissions, has a range of 100 miles and can carry a pilot and 4 passengers. The fuselage is carbon composite. Vertical says the EVs will have a very low cost per passenger mile that will be similar to that of a road taxi. Test flights begin in late 2022 and the company expects certification for passenger flights in 2024.
Vertical's Book of Flying Taxi Orders
Vertical has what is arguably the largest pre-order book in the eVTOL industry. The total number of VA-X4 vehicles on order stands at 1,350 aircraft or $5.4 billion. American Airlines, Air Asia, Virgin Atlantic are among the customers. Virgin Atlantic is expected to use the flying taxis to ferry its plane customers to nearby airports such as London to Heathrow or Gatwick. Vertical has a who's who list of financial backers including Rolls Royce, Microsoft and Virgin.
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