Video Dubai takes the first step towards adopting flying taxis, including for traveling to the world's largest international airport

Navitists and travelers from Dubai could soon have a new way to avoid traffic: air taxis. The Joby Aviation has made the first complete electric air taxi test flight in the emirate, a reference moment in the city's efforts to integrate air transport into existing mobility networks, possibly next year, reports the Reuters Agency on Tuesday.

Joby hopes for his air taxis to reduce the pressure on existing terrestrial transport and to give travelers a faster alternative, given that Dubai is experiencing a bigger road congestion.

“We want to change the way people do the shuttle,” said Anthony Khory, the general manager of Joby for Eau.

The company estimates that a trip from the main airport of Dubai, DXB, to the island of Palm Jumeirah will last on board its air taxi for about 12 minutes. The same road takes 45 minutes by car. DXB, Dubai International Airport, is the largest airport in the world compared to the number of international travelers that transit it annually.

Although the long -term ambition of Joby is that its air taxis becomes “accessible to everyone”, Khory acknowledges that at first, prices will probably be oriented to higher income travelers. “As with any new technology, the first phases will be a little more premium,” he says.

The demonstrative flight took place on Monday, in an isolated desert area, southeast of the center of Dubai, and was designed to simulate a typical air taxi trip.

The air tax tested in Dubai can reach speeds over 300 kilometers per hour

During a ceremony attended by high -ranking government officials, directors in the field of transport and representatives, the experimental aircraft made a vertical take -off, flew a few kilometers, then returned for a vertical landing.

Air Taxi Joby, Evtol (“Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing”) aircraft developed by the Californian company, can travel distances up to 160 kilometers, with speeds that can reach 320 km/h.

Fully electric, with zero operational emissions, the Joby air taxi is designed to be both ecological and silent enough to be used commercially in dense urban areas.

“It will fly through the city, near residential areas, and we hope that nearby people will not notice it,” Khoury said.

Air taxis are presented as a solution for the future

Although EVTOL aircraft such as Joby are presented as the future of urban air mobility, the industry is still facing major obstacles – including obtaining regulatory approvals and developing sufficient vertiports (take -off and vertical landing).

In April, bank Morgan Stanley reduced the price target for Joby actions from $ 10 to $ 7, signaling risks related to short -term implementation and wider problems in the aerospace industry, such as customs duties and difficulties in the supply chain. Currently, Joby shares traded at $ 10.55.

At the beginning of 2024, Joby signed a contract with the Dubai Road and Transport Authority, which grants the company exclusive rights to operate air taxis in the city for the next six years.

The company intends to inaugurate the Commercial Air Taxis Service of the Emirate in 2026, with four initial vertiports located at Dubai International Airport, Palm Jumeirah, in the center of Dubai and Dubai Marina.

“In aviation, you do not see such transformations,” said Didier Papadopoulos, president of the original equipment production division.

“From time to time, you have an accelerated evolution to the future. What you see here is truly captivating and I am eager to experience this at some point in the future,” he said.