ABOVE: Construction of the test facility will start in October
Bicester airfield has received the green light to build the UK’s first vertiport testbed for the electric ‘flying taxi’ industry, with Cherwell District Council authorising the upcoming electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) facility.
In conjunction with Skyports Infrastructure (described as ‘the leader in vertiport infrastructure for the advanced air mobility industry’), Bicester Motion will build the vertiport and ‘compact 160 sq m passenger terminal’ adjacent to the existing grass runways. Construction will commence this autumn and the first eVTOL aircraft to conduct test flights from the facility will be Vertical Aerospace’s VX4, currently undergoing flight testing at the company’s main test centre at Kemble.
The vertiport is being developed as part of the UK’s Advanced Air Mobility Consortium, backed by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Flight Challenge. It will serve as a key element of the consortium’s wider testing programme, including demonstration flights, ground operations and aircraft integration.
Bicester Motion’s Chief Executive Daniel Geoghegan believes that as the site continues to “welcome aircraft from all eras including new mobility technologies to provide a viable future for [its] historic airfield through such pioneering projects as Skyports,” the vertiport planning permission enables Bicester to “continue to host such aviation innovation and advance a world where sustainable and accessible electric aviation is in reach for all”.
“The vertiport living lab will go beyond demonstrating flight procedures and will validate the entire ecosystem the partners have created from the ground up,” added James Richmond, head of future flight at consortium lead, AtkinsRéalis. “Gaining planning consent was a critical milestone and provided important learning for all stakeholders involved, helping to enable and scale advanced air mobility in the UK”.
IMAGES: BICESTER MOTION
