Company launching air taxis in Dubai reveals 'long-term' ambition to compete with regular taxis on price

Passengers will be able to book through an app, says UAE manager of California-based firm

A company planning to launch an electric air taxi service in Dubai has revealed that it intends to compete with regular taxis on price.

Joby Aviation, which aims to begin operations in 2026, has ambitions to deliver a “widely accessible” service via a smartphone app and its long-term goal is to be “competitive” with ground-based alternatives, said Anthony Khoury, UAE general manager at the California-based company.

Archer Aviation, another air-taxi company with plans to launch services in Abu Dhabi, said inner-city travel would cost Dh300 to Dh350, while travel to other Emirates would range from Dh800 to Dh1,500, according to local media. But Joby Aviation has yet to disclose exactly what it plans to charge.

“We haven’t announced specific pricing, but our long-term goal is to offer a service that is competitive to the cost of similar ground-based alternatives,” Mr Khoury told The National.

“Joby's unique technology means we can provide services that are not only more accessible than helicopter travel, but are also safer, quieter and have zero operating emissions. Over time we expect this to mean we can deliver a service that is widely accessible.”

Book air taxi through an app

Mr Khoury said passengers will be able to book Joby Aviation’s flights through a dedicated smartphone app, offering a futuristic travel experience across the city.

The company’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will use vertiports, which are being built at strategic locations so the service can blend in with Dubai’s existing infrastructure, such as the metro and bus.

The company announced on Tuesday that construction of the first flying station, near Dubai International Airport, had started. It said the vertiport will be able handle 170,000 passengers a year.

Other vertiports planned for operations in 2026, as part of the initial phase, include Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown and the Dubai Marina.

Joby Aviation has said it will manufacture and operate the air taxis and manage passenger traffic, while Skyport will design, implement and manage station infrastructure.

“The service will include seamless first- and last-mile connectivity via car, metro, bus or micromobility,” said Mr Khoury.

The company has said that each aircraft seats four passengers and a pilot, has a range of 160km on a single charge and can reach up to 321kph.

Mr Khoury said that would help cut travel time from Dubai International Airport to Palm Jumeirah to 10-12 minutes, instead of 45 minutes by car. This could also help to reduce road traffic.

“Our aircraft is designed for rapid turnaround, able to recharge in the time it takes to offload and board new passengers,” he said. “Given the short length of journeys, this means many trips can be completed in a day with each aircraft. We expect the service to scale over time.”

Designed to fly in urban areas

Nasa has worked with Joby Aviation to test the noise footprint of the aircraft and ensure that they are built for cities. The air taxi makes “exponentially less” sound than helicopters during take-off and flight.

“From Joby’s founding in 2009, our goal has been to develop an aircraft that is quiet enough to fly in built-up cities like Dubai without disturbing the peace and quiet of residents and visitors – and that is what we’ve accomplished with the Joby aircraft,” explained Mr Khoury.

Working with UAE authorities for safety

Mr Khoury said his company is working with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to certify its aircraft and operations for commercial use, while closely following the regulations laid out by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

“As part of this process, we will carry out hundreds of tests and analyses covering every system of our aircraft and submit the results to the GCAA for independent verification,” he added.

“The GCAA has made numerous visits to our testing and manufacturing facilities in recent years and recently accepted our qualification plans covering every aspect of our intended service.”

The air taxis are designed with layers of back-up systems to ensure safety. Each aircraft is equipped with four battery packs and six electric motors, and every motor is independently powered by its own battery pack and inverter. This means that if one system fails, others can continue to operate.

“In service, every Joby air taxi will be flown by a qualified pilot,” said Mr Khoury. “The aircraft’s advanced flight controls, based on the unified flight control concept used by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, significantly reduce pilot workload and employ envelope protection to prevent the pilot from making control inputs that would jeopardise safe flight.”

The company also plans to launch operations in the US, Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

The total market value created by electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, is forecast to be $1.5 trillion a year by 2040 in a base-case assessment by Morgan Stanley analysts put together in February.