Skyports breaks ground on UK vertiport development

Skyports Infrastructure and Bicester Motion have broken ground on the UK’s first vertiport testbed development.

The vertiport is under construction on a plot of 0.42 acres (0.17 hectares) at Bicester Motion’s 444-acre future mobility estate in Bicester, Oxfordshire. It will include a compact 160sqm passenger terminal.

Duncan Walker, CEO at Skyports said: “With spades in ground and the site beginning to take shape, today we are one step closer to delivering our vertiport at Bicester Motion. Our thanks to the project and construction teams for their work so far and we look forward to opening the facility in a few months’ time to continue our efforts to develop and scale electric air taxi services.”

Once complete, the facility will be used to test eVTOL flight operations, ground infrastructure and air traffic management. It is being constructed adjacent to Bicester Motion’s existing general aviation grass runways and is due to be completed in early 2025.

Daniel Geoghegan, CEO at Bicester Motion added: “It’s great to see Skyports’ vertiport being built right here in Bicester. Once complete, it will support vertical take-off and landing aircraft testing as part of advanced air mobility innovation. We’re proud to support this vertiport testbed as part of our strategic vision to integrate both traditional and vertical aviation operations from our airfield and boost pioneering future mobility discovery.”

The facility will launch with an inauguration event which will include demonstration flights by Vertical Aerospace.

Michael Cervenka, chief commercial and strategy officer at Vertical Aerospace said: “As a proud partner of the Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium, Vertical Aerospace is excited to see this state-of-the-art vertiport come to life. Facilities like this are essential for enabling the seamless integration of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft into our airspace and helping people better understand the benefits they will bring.”