Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Vertical Aerospace revealed in its latest financial statement that Nomura Securities offered the UK-based eVTOL-maker a loan of up to US$100 million to allow Vertical to retain a large share of its ownership.
Like all eVTOL companies, Vertical is currently spending a lot of money on research, development, and production of its new aircraft (during the first half of 2022 it reported a net operating loss of about US$47 million) and it will not begin making substantial income until its aircraft is licensed to carry passengers–a prospect which is probably still several years away.
In this context, Vertical also announced that it has finished building the first full-scale prototype of its VX4, a five-seat eVTOL model expected to ferry passengers through the skies as well as take on cargo delivery and other missions.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Vertical Founder and CEO, stated, “I am delighted to share that we have reached a critical engineering milestone by completing the build of our full-scale VX4 prototype, and we have now begun putting it through its paces for an intensive, multi-month flight test program.”
Nomura’s loan is not Vertical Aerospace’s first connection with Japan. Last autumn, two separate partnerships were announced.
Last September, it was revealed that Marubeni Corporation signed a conditional preorder for up to two hundred VX4 aircraft, with an eye towards operating an air taxi service that might, for example, carry passengers from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station.
Less than a month later, it was announced that Japan Airlines (JAL) might buy or lease up to a hundred VX4 aircraft through Avolon, a Dublin-based global aircraft leasing company.
Globally, Vertical says that it now has preorders for up to 1,400 units of its VX4 aircraft.
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