Vertical Aerospace Picking up Momentum in Building Marketshare from Pole to Pole
The electric VX4 has beat expected pre-order commitment estimates with more than 500 aircraft earmarked for airlines around the world.
Avolon, a global aircraft lessor, pre-ordered 500 VX4s in June of last year, and has now chosen to exercise its option for 50 additional aircraft after placing each one of its initial order. Vertical Aerospace has been seeing considerable interest in the VX4, whether with JAL, AirAsia, Gol, and more, their work will soon be in service around the world. Avolon's successful home-ing of 550 brand-new, first-generation aircraft in an impressive feat. The eVTOL market is still in its infancy, with everyone racing to be first out the gate to provide sustainable, flexible passenger service, but finding such excitement for such a new aircraft is not common in aerospace.
Vertical's backers have been pleased with its reception, noting that the VX4's pre-order book by value in the eVTOL market is a class-leading $5.4 billion. That milestone is a show of investor and customer confidence in the aircraft, with a range of corporate partners joining Vertical to establish the full flight test program later this year.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Vertical founder, is excited to get off the ground, so to speak. “We are delighted that Turkey has been added to the global destinations where the VX4 will fly. We look forward to welcoming Gözen into the Vertical family and continue to celebrate our growing partnership with Avolon."
“Today marks an important milestone on our eVTOL journey, as we have now fully placed our VX4 orderbook with some of the leading international airlines and aviation companies all over the world," said Dómhnal Slattery, CEO of Avolon. "The opportunities to deploy the VX4 are enormous and, as is evident with our placement progress to date, zero emissions eVTOL air travel will reshape the short-haul travel market. Our partnership with Gözen Holding will create a pioneer in UAM in Turkey, bringing sustainable air travel to the region."
Slattery continued, emphasizing the immense demand for sustainable electric air travel. "The strong demand for our VX4 orderbook and for zero emissions travel, confirms our view that demand for eVTOL aircraft would always outstrip supply. As a result, we will continue working with other partners that want to purchase or lease the VX4 in order to fully size the potential market and demand for this aircraft.”