Vertical opens UK assembly site for Valo eVTOL aircraft

Vertical Aerospace opened a dedicated Valo eVTOL assembly centre at Cotswold Airport on September 25, 2026. The site is intended to build certification-conforming aircraft and early production examples before a larger factory is named.

• Valo assembly centre opened on September 25, 2026
• Located at Cotswold Airport in the UK
• Designed for certification-conforming aircraft
• Full-scale production site expected to be announced in Q4 2026
• Valo is a piloted eVTOL air taxi programme

Vertical Aerospace has opened a new aircraft assembly centre at Cotswold Airport for its Valo eVTOL programme. The facility moves the company from prototype flight testing toward the more difficult job of repeatable aircraft production.

The site will build certification-conforming aircraft for testing and early customer deliveries. Vertical has said a separate full-scale production location is still to come, with an announcement expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.

That timing is important. eVTOL companies are no longer being judged only on clever prototypes; investors, regulators and future operators want proof that aircraft can be built, certified and supported. A small assembly centre is not the same as mass production, but it is a concrete step toward that target.