Vertical Aerospace Completes Two-Way Piloted Transition Flight Under Civil Aviation Design Organisation Approval Regulatory Oversight

• First eVTOL to complete two-way piloted transition – switching from helicopter mode to airplane mode and back again - under civil aviation Design Organisation Approval regulatory oversight
• Advances Valo's path to certification, targeted for 2028, with entry into service expected shortly thereafter on routes such as Canary Wharf to Heathrow and JFK to Manhattan
• Reinforces UK leadership in next-generation aerospace, supporting high-skill jobs and export growth

Vertical Aerospace ("Vertical" or "the Company") (NYSE:EVTL), a global aerospace and technology company pioneering electric aviation, has successfully completed a historic two-way piloted transition flight.

On 14 April 2026, Vertical became the second company globally to complete a two-way piloted transition flight in a full-scale tiltrotor eVTOL and the first to do so under civil aviation Design Organisation Approval regulatory oversight.

Path to Certification

As with all Vertical flight tests since 2023, this milestone was achieved under the direct oversight of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who are working in close collaboration with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) toward Type Certification of Valo. Testing is conducted under Vertical's Design Organisation Approval, a pre-requisite for entry into service.

With all phases of flight now proven - vertical take-off, wingborne flight and transition between the two - Vertical is moving into the next stage of certification testing. This will include critical design review, when the aircraft design is locked, followed by the build of seven pre-production Valo aircraft in the UK for compliance and verification testing with the CAA and EASA.

Vertical is targeting certification of Valo in 2028 to the highest safety standards in the category, with entry into service expected shortly thereafter. The certification approach is designed to be transferable to other regulators, including the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), supporting global deployment with airline and operating partners including American Airlines, Avolon, Bristow, GOL and Japan Airlines.