Passenger 11 July 2026 7 min
The Passenger Experience: What a London Air Taxi Trip Will Feel Like
Check-in, security, boarding, baggage and turnaround for a London eVTOL flight — a realistic walkthrough of the passenger journey.
The value proposition collapses if the ground process resembles an airport. Vertiport design guidance and operator planning both assume a compressed passenger flow.
Ground time targets
Arrive close to departure, identity and security screening proportionate to the risk profile, hand baggage only, direct pad access. Anything longer erases the time saved.
Airline interlining
Where the trip connects to a long-haul flight, the interesting design question is whether screening can be inherited from the airline's process rather than repeated.
Sources & further reading
- FlightGlobal — Joby and Virgin Atlantic formalise UK air taxi network plan
- Business Insider — Virgin Atlantic and Joby on Heathrow flying-taxi pricing
- Skyports Infrastructure — Vertiports
- UK CAA — CAP 2538: Considerations for aerodromes and vertiports operating VTOL aircraft
- Joby Aviation — US operations in 2026 under the White House air taxi program