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What if an air taxi could cost the same per mile, per seat as an Uber Black/Comfort, while getting you to your destination much faster? Vertical Aerospace’s eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft), the Valo, is looking to make air taxis a reality in as little as two years. The Valo could enter service as soon as 2028 following regulatory approval, with Manhattan and London among its first markets.
The goal is to offer a faster and environmentally responsible way to cut down on commutes to airports, sports stadiums, and between heliports. This eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft has a cruising speed of 150 miles per hour and a range of about 100 miles, it can shrink trips that usually take hours down to minutes. I had the chance to check out the Valo recently, and here’s why this could mark a real turning point for urban transport.
How is this different from a helicopter?
The Valo is an electric air taxi built specifically for short, high-value trips in and around major hubs. Operators like BLADE already use helicopters for airport transfers, but eVTOLs have several advantages. The Valo lifts off, hovers, and lands like a helicopter, but once it reaches altitude, the motors rotate forward, and it transitions into forward flight, behaving more like a plane.
Compared to hovering, forward flight delivers better range, efficiency, and much lower noise. This allows the Valo to maximize its range while keeping the cabin quieter and more stable than a helicopter. Passengers experience a calmer, more comfortable ride, while cities below benefit from reduced noise and zero operating emissions.
Vertical says it has around 1,500 pre-orders for Valo from customers across four continents — including American Airlines and Japan Airlines — and suggests this could be a real commercial platform by major aviation players, not a one-off concept.
How much will it cost?
Pricing is the big question with any air taxi, and the easiest comparison right now is helicopters, because that’s the market Valo is actually trying to disrupt. Helicopter transfers with Blade start at around $195 per seat for routes like Manhattan to JFK or Newark. Vertical says Valo is expected to be significantly less expensive to operate than traditional helicopters and their target operating cost is around $2 per passenger mile.
For comparison, an Uber from Manhattan to JFK typically costs anywhere from $65 to $130 for a standard UberX, depending on traffic and demand, and it can go much higher during peak hours. Valo will not immediately be cheaper than every Uber ride, but that it aims to dramatically undercut helicopter pricing while delivering similar time savings.
Why electric is the future
Range and downtime are going to play a big role in whether or not electric air taxis will actually take off. The first Valo will be fully electric and intended for shorter back to back urban routes. Eight liquid-cooled battery packs under the floor target a full charge in roughly 15 minutes, assuming the charging infrastructure is in place. It can land, recharge quickly, and get back in the air much faster between flights.
Being electric also means fewer moving parts. No turbine engine, no complex gearbox, and less mechanical wear overall. That translates to lower maintenance, lower operating costs, and less time out of service, which is crucial for operators running these repeated flights and should hopefully translate to lower ticket prices for passengers.
For trips beyond the roughly 100-mile range of the electric Valo, Vertical is planning to offer a hybrid variant using the same airframe. Fuel powers generators that feed electricity to the motors, rather than directly driving rotors. This gives much longer range, potentially up to 1,000 miles, while keeping the electric propulsion architecture intact. Altogether, this could really disrupt traditional helicopter charters.
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Luxurious cabin & plenty of storage
Maybe even more impressive than its nearly 50-foot wingspan and sleek shiny frame, when I stepped inside Valo’s cabin, it instantly drowned out the loud noise from the show floor. It uses a two-by-two seating layout with plush seats facing each other. It feels more like a private lounge than a traditional aircraft. Vertical also plans to offer a six-seat layout in the future so that operators can offer lower cost flights.
There is also this cool pass-through window into the pilot’s area so you can see forward, and the pilot can communicate directly with passengers through the cabin speakers. Of course heading to the airport means taking suitcases; company reps showed off 13 bags fitting in the Velo’s storage compartment in the tail. Considering you’re barely allowed one carry-on for most domestic flights, I was really surprised by how much the Valo could pack.
Not science fiction, but not flying tomorrow either
As exciting as this sounds, Valo is not going to be carrying passengers tomorrow or even this year. Vertical is currently targeting certification around 2028, which would enable entry into service in the U.S. and globally. What makes that timeline feel more credible is that they are actively flight testing the aircraft in the UK under regulatory oversight. Over the past year, they completed piloted vertical lift flights and wingborne flight, with full transition flying beginning in November and continuing as part of ongoing testing.
Valo is aiming for airliner-level safety certification through the UK CAA and EASA, which would allow it to operate globally once approved, with FAA certification expected to follow. There are still major hurdles ahead, from certification to infrastructure and operator adoption. But seeing this aircraft in person, and knowing it is already deep into real flight testing, makes this feel different from past air taxi concepts. For the first time, electric air taxis feel like something that could realistically happen within my lifetime.
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