UK CAA Publishes eVTOL Delivery Model to Enable First Commercial Flights in Country by 2028

The UK Civ­il Avi­a­tion Author­i­ty (CAA) has pub­lished its first eVTOL Deliv­ery Mod­el, set­ting out how the reg­u­la­tor intends to enable the safe intro­duc­tion of eVTOL air­craft into com­mer­cial ser­vice by the end of 2028.

The doc­u­ment, which was pub­lished yes­ter­day (Thurs­day), high­lights how Advanced Air Mobil­i­ty has the poten­tial to trans­form region­al con­nec­tiv­i­ty, decar­bonise avi­a­tion and cre­ate new pub­lic and com­mer­cial ser­vices. To achieve this, the CAA is work­ing along­side gov­ern­ment, indus­try and inter­na­tion­al part­ners to estab­lish a clear, agile reg­u­la­to­ry frame­work that ensures safe­ty while sup­port­ing inno­va­tion.

A Three-Stage Approach: Flying Now, Tomorrow and in the Future

The Deliv­ery Mod­el is struc­tured around three phas­es:

• Fly­ing Now – eVTOL demon­stra­tion flights are already pos­si­ble in the UK under exper­i­men­tal and pre-cer­ti­fi­ca­tion approvals. Recent exam­ples include Ver­ti­cal Aerospace’s Per­mit to Fly cam­paign and Beta Tech­nolo­gies’ demon­stra­tion flights
• Fly­ing Tomor­row – By 2028, the CAA aims to have in place the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion stan­dards, updat­ed leg­is­la­tion, and oper­a­tional sys­tems required for ini­tial com­mer­cial eVTOL ser­vices. This includes new rules for pilot licens­ing, aero­drome stan­dards, air­space inte­gra­tion, and con­tin­u­ing air­wor­thi­ness
• Fly­ing in the Future – Beyond 2030, fur­ther devel­op­ments such as high­er-vol­ume air traf­fic man­age­ment, hybrid propul­sion sys­tems, autonomous oper­a­tions, and new train­ing routes for pilots will be intro­duced as the tech­nol­o­gy and indus­try mature

Sophie O’Sullivan, Direc­tor of Future Safe­ty & Inno­va­tion, said: “The emer­gence of eVTOL offers new oppor­tu­ni­ties for the aero­space indus­try and the poten­tial to reshape how peo­ple trav­el and goods are deliv­ered.

“Our eVTOL Deliv­ery Mod­el out­lines how we as a reg­u­la­tor are work­ing to enable this new indus­try to oper­ate with the high­est safe­ty stan­dards, and our ambi­tion to put in place the reg­u­la­to­ry frame­work to facil­i­tate com­mer­cial eVTOL oper­a­tions in the UK by the end of 2028 in line with the government’s objec­tives.”

To guide this work, the CAA has com­mit­ted to five core prin­ci­ples:

1. Deliv­er as one CAA – inte­grat­ing exper­tise across depart­ments
2. Iter­ate on the exist­ing frame­work – build­ing on estab­lished avi­a­tion rules
3. Engage open­ly – work­ing with stake­hold­ers and the pub­lic
4. Learn from oth­ers – align­ing with EASA, ICAO, and inter­na­tion­al part­ners
5. Safe and pro­por­tion­ate solu­tions – ensur­ing the high­est stan­dards of safe­ty with­out sti­fling growth
   

Key Policy Positions for 2028

The Deliv­ery Mod­el out­lines sev­er­al posi­tions that will shape ear­ly eVTOL oper­a­tions in the UK:

• Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion – eVTOL air­craft will be cer­ti­fied under UK.SC.VTOL Issue 2, with addi­tion­al noise and envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion require­ments
• Pilot Licens­ing – com­mer­cial oper­a­tions will require a Com­mer­cial or Air­line Trans­port Pilot Licence plus a type rat­ing. Pri­vate pilots will be able to fly eVTOL for non-com­mer­cial pur­pos­es
• Aero­dromes – updat­ed cer­ti­fi­ca­tion require­ments will apply to ver­ti­ports, includ­ing fire­fight­ing poli­cies, IFR pro­ce­dures, and infra­struc­ture stan­dards
• Flight Oper­a­tions – day/night VFR and IFR oper­a­tions will be allowed, with strict require­ments on recharg­ing, ener­gy reserves, and per­for­mance-based safe­ty
• Air­space & ATM – ear­ly oper­a­tions will use exist­ing pro­ce­dures, with digi­ti­sa­tion and advanced tools expect­ed beyond 2030 to han­dle increased traf­fic
• Secu­ri­ty – phys­i­cal and cyber risks will con­tin­ue to be mon­i­tored as com­mer­cial use cas­es expand
  

The CAA will launch pub­lic con­sul­ta­tions lat­er this year on the pro­posed reg­u­la­to­ry changes, ahead of sub­mit­ting leg­isla­tive rec­om­men­da­tions to the Depart­ment for Trans­port in 2026.

You can down­load your own copy of the eVTOL Deliv­ery Mod­el, by click­ing here.