His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, today inaugurated the construction of the emirate’s first aerial taxi vertiport.
Located near Dubai International Airport (DXB), the 3,100 sqm facility will have the capacity to handle 42,000 landings and 170,000 passengers annually. The initial phase will feature stations in Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, and Palm Jumeirah, with services launching in 2026.
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The air taxis will have a maximum speed of 321 kmph, and will be able to cover the distance between DXB and Palm Jumeirah in 12 minutes, compared to the 45 minutes taken by car.
Speaking earlier at the World Congress and Exhibition on Intelligent Transport Systems in Dubai, Khaled Al Awadhi, director of the Transportation Systems Department at Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said the first of the four vertiports is likely to go into operation in the first quarter of 2026.
Efficient transport
Powered by Joby Aviation, the project is an ambitious step in the field of autonomous air transportation. Moreover, it aims to provide a modern and efficient means of transportation. The air taxi will serve different areas of the city, with a focus on linking the service to hotels and the airport, he added.
According to Al Awadhi, the initiative promises swift and safe mobility between key locations in the emirate. Moreover, it offers passengers a futuristic mode of travel above the cityscape.
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Skyports Infrastructure, the leader in vertiport infrastructure for the advanced air mobility industry, has signed a definitive agreement with the RTA and Joby Aviation to launch the passenger air taxi services. The agreement was inked during the World Governments Summit in February.
Close cooperation
Joby and the RTA have been working closely with the General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE to ensure there is a regulatory route to support the vision of being a world leader in the introduction of air taxis. The GCAA regulatory framework builds upon FAA standards with additional company testing and analysis alongside a high level of regulator oversight and an ongoing operational review process to ensure continued safety for early operations.
In November 2023, Joby’s aircraft became the first electric air taxi to fly in New York City, building on a number of recent successes including the launch of production at the company’s initial manufacturing facility in California in June 2023 and the first ever delivery of an electric air taxi to the U.S. Department of Defense in September 2023. Joby is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has raised more than $2 billion of funding as of February 2024.
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