Vertical opens Valo assembly centre at Cotswold Airport

Vertical Aerospace opened a dedicated Aircraft Assembly Centre at its Cotswold Airport flight-test campus on September 24, 2026, National Manufacturing Day in the UK. The company said a 1.5 million pound investment adds 60,000 square feet, taking the site to about 130,000 square feet, and that the centre will build certification-conforming Valo aircraft for a UK CAA type-certification target of 2029, with first assembly expected in Q4 2027. After certification it expects capacity for more than 25 Valo aircraft a year there, and it will also retrofit a prototype for hybrid-electric flight testing in the first half of 2027. A separate full-scale factory is still due to be announced later in 2026.