Vertical Aerospace opened a new aircraft assembly center at its Cotswold Airport Flight Test Centre on September 24, 2026, investing 1.5 million pounds to add 60,000 square feet of industrial space for Valo certification aircraft and a hybrid-electric demonstrator. AeroTime reported that the expansion nearly doubles the Cotswolds site to about 130,000 square feet, or roughly 12,000 square meters.
The company said aircraft built in the new hall will support Valo's certification campaign with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. After certification, the same lines are intended to assemble the first customer production aircraft. Early-rate capacity at Cotswold is pegged at more than twenty-five Valo aircraft a year, while Vertical continues to seek a larger UK production site with government support for higher volumes later.
Alongside certification airframes, Vertical plans to assemble the first demonstrator featuring a new hybrid-electric propulsion architecture in the Cotswold facility. The hybrid layout is meant to extend range beyond pure battery eVTOL missions and to open roles such as military utility flying. In parallel, the firm is expanding its Vertical Energy Centre near Bristol to produce battery systems for the aircraft.
The timing matters because Vertical has also said it is reviewing financing for the next growth phase. A physical assembly hall that can build conforming certification aircraft is a tangible milestone investors and regulators watch: it shows the program is moving from design offices into serial industrial work even before type certification is complete.
Cotswold Airport, in southwest England, already hosts Vertical's flight-test activity. Concentrating assembly beside flight test shortens the loop between build, ground checks and airborne campaigns. For an eVTOL developer, that co-location can cut ferry and logistics friction during the densest period of certification flying and keeps prototype tooling close to the runways used for envelope expansion.
Certification conforming builds are different from prototypes: fasteners, wiring harnesses and software loads must match the approved design data so flight-test evidence can be credited toward type certification. Vertical's decision to put that work into a dedicated Cotswold hall is therefore an industrial signal as much as a real-estate announcement.
Battery production near Bristol complements the Cotswold airframe work by keeping high-voltage packs inside Vertical's UK supply chain. No customer delivery dates were attached to the September 24 opening beyond the early-rate capacity figure and the statement that production aircraft will follow certification. What is confirmed is the investment, the floor area, the dual use for Valo certification jets and a hybrid demonstrator, and Vertical's continued preference for keeping larger-scale production in the United Kingdom.
Industry briefings this month repeated those points without announcing a solicitation timeline, leaving the campaign in the advocacy phase rather than a formal source-selection race.
Industry briefings this month repeated those points without announcing a solicitation timeline, leaving the campaign in the advocacy phase rather than a formal source-selection race.
Industry briefings this month repeated those points without announcing a solicitation timeline, leaving the campaign in the advocacy phase rather than a formal source-selection race.
Industry briefings this month repeated those points without announcing a solicitation timeline, leaving the campaign in the advocacy phase rather than a formal source-selection race.
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