As early as the fourth quarter of 2025, Dubai will welcome the much-anticipated flying taxis. Additionally, to guarantee that clients are taken from their residence or place of business to their ultimate destination, an aerial ridesharing service that combines traditional ridesharing with flight services will be launched.
At the opening of the five-day Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress and Exhibition in Dubai on Monday, Tyler Trerotola, general manager of the California-based air taxi company Joby Aviation, gave the guarantee.
Skyports Infrastructure (Skyports) will build four vertiports initially, one each in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown, Dubai Marina, and Dubai International Airport (DXB). Trerotola said a typical travel from DXB to Palm Jumeirah is projected to take only 10 minutes by air taxi, versus around 45 minutes by car.
The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) issues the air operator certificate as a prerequisite for conducting commercial aviation in the nation.
To begin air taxi services in the city, Joby and Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) inked a formal agreement in February of this year.
A multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED), the Department of Municipalities and Transport (Abu Dhabi) (DMT), and the Department of Culture and Tourism (Abu Dhabi) (DCT Abu Dhabi) came next in April.
According to Tretola, there can be up to five passengers in the eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) air taxi, including the pilot. Its flying range is up to 160km at 320-km per hour at an altitude of 1,640 feet.
By 2030, Dubai wants to switch 25% of the emirate's transportation to driverless vehicles.
In an effort to improve travel times and increase traffic safety, the RTA is also looking into extending bus-only lanes along busy highways.
