[imagesource: Virgin Atlantic]

Heathrow Airport has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past few weeks.

Passengers travelling through the airport have spoken about “utter carnage”, hours-long queues, and baggage being lost.

The situation was so dire last week that airlines were being told to reduce the number of seats sold on flights to quell the chaos.

A spot of good PR was in order and it duly arrived via reports that Virgin Atlantic will begin carrying out test flights “using a flying taxi model” from UK-based startup Vertical Aerospace from 2024.

The airline’s Heathrow hub will feature. The news was first broken by Bloomberg:

Virgin will operate one flight from the main airport in Bristol, England, where Vertical is based, to an airfield elsewhere in the southwest, according to a joint statement Monday. A second will link the carrier’s own London Heathrow hub and a so-called vertiport to be built by infrastructure specialist Skyports.

Vertical said separately that it’s teaming up with Babcock International Group Plc to explore new applications for its VX4 model in providing emergency medical services and cargo transportation.

As things stand, Virgin Atlantic’s flying taxi venture is making good headway. A vertiport has already been constructed, with aerial and ground trials coming soon.

If the flight between Bristol and that airfield in the southwest goes well, test flights taking off from Virgin’s hub at London Heathrow Airport will then commence.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing craft, known as eVTOLs, have seen major advancements in capability in recent times.

Last December, Vertical announced its VX4 model with a slick video:

There’s some way to go before these test flights progress past that point. Still, these are exciting times:

The test flights will evaluate vehicle operation, navigation, ground charging and security provision following development of physical and digital infrastructure, including a vertiport, where ground and aerial trials will begin in about a year.

In addition to the above news, Vertical’s share price has benefited from news that the American Airlines Group has committed to buying 50 aircraft.

Last Friday, the share price shot up by as much as 50%, reports TMF:

Vertical founder and CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick in a statement called the commitment a “major milestone” in the partnership between the two companies.

Image: Vertical Aerospace

“Together, we are making zero-emissions flight a reality for passengers traveling all over the world,” Fitzpatrick said. “We look forward to continuing our work with American and seeing the first red, white and blue VX4 come off the production line.”

FlyingGroup, a business jet operator based in Europe, has also conditionally pre-ordered up to 50 VX4 aircraft.

The total value of Vertical’s pre-order backlog, as of last Friday, sat at around $5,6 billion.

[sources:bloomberg&tmf]