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- Dubai aims to beat the traffic with 2026 Joby air taxi liftoff</p>
<p>AbdelHadi Ramahi, Amr Alfiky and Luke TysonJuly 1, 2025 at 4:04 AM</p>
<p>By AbdelHadi Ramahi, Amr Alfiky and Luke Tyson</p>
<p>DUBAI (Reuters) -Dubai commuters may soon have a new way to skip traffic: air taxis.</p>
<p>Joby Aviation conducted the first test flight of its fully-electric air taxi in the emirate this week, a major milestone in the city's efforts to integrate airborne transport into existing mobility networks as early as next year.</p>
<p>Joby hopes its air-taxis will ease pressure on existing ground transportation and offer travelers a faster alternative as Dubai faces increasing congestion.</p>
<p>"We want to change the way people commute," Anthony Khoury, Joby's UAE General Manager, said.</p>
<p>A journey from Dubai's main airport DXB to Palm Jumeirah aboard the Joby Aerial Taxi will take roughly twelve minutes, the company predicts, as opposed to 45 minutes by car.</p>
<p>While Joby's long-term ambition is to make its aerial taxis "affordable for everybody to use," Khoury says, they acknowledge early pricing will likely target higher-income travelers. "As with any novel technology, early days might be a bit more premium."</p>
<p>The demonstration flight was held on Monday at an isolated desert site southeast of Dubai's downtown and was designed to emulate a typical aerial taxi journey, according to Joby Aviation officials.</p>
<p>In a ceremony attended by senior government officials, transport executives and company representatives, the experimental aircraft executed a vertical takeoff, flew for several miles, and then returned for a vertical landing.</p>
<p>The Joby Aerial Taxi, the flagship electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developed by the California-based company, can fly distances of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) at speeds reaching 320km/hr (200mph).</p>
<p>Fully electric, with zero operating emissions, Joby's air-taxi is designed to be both eco-friendly and quiet enough for commercial use in dense urban areas.</p>
<p>"It will be flying in the city, next to residential areas, and hopefully people will barely notice it," Khoury said.</p>
<p>While eVTOLs such as Joby's have been hailed as the future of urban air the industry still faces major hurdles -- including securing regulatory approval and developing sufficient vertiport infrastructure.</p>
<p>Morgan Stanley downgraded Joby's stock price target from $10 to $7 in April, flagging near-term execution risks and broader aerospace industry concerns, including tariffs and supply-chain issues. Joby is currently trading at $10.55.</p>
<p>In early 2024, Joby signed a contract with Dubai's Roads and Transit Authority that awarded the company exclusive rights to operate aerial taxis in the city for the next six years.</p>
<p>The company plans to inaugurate the emirate's commercial air-taxi service in 2026, with four initial vertiports located at Dubai International Airport (DXB), Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown and Dubai Marina.</p>
<p>"In aviation, you don't see transformations like this," said Didier Papadopoulos, Joby's President of Original Equipment Manufacturing.</p>
<p>"Every once in a while, you have this propulsive move into the future. What you're witnessing here is really exciting, and I'm excited for you to be riding this one point in the future."</p>
<p>(Reporting by Abdelhadi Ramahi and Luke Tyson in Dubai; editing by Maha El Dahan, Editing by Louise Heavens)</p>
Source: AOL General News
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