{"id":32856,"date":"2025-06-30T12:18:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32856"},"modified":"2025-06-30T12:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:18:15","slug":"us-air-taxi-start-up-joby-begins-flight-testing-in-dubai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32856","title":{"rendered":"US air taxi start-up Joby begins flight testing in Dubai"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=a9177d08-0282-4bd3-9051-016640286faa\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>US air taxi start-up Joby Aviation is a step closer towards launching its first commercial service as early as the end of this year after completing a series of piloted test flights in Dubai.<\/p>\n<p>The company said the flights, where the aircraft successfully transitioned from vertical take-off to horizontal cruise before again landing vertically, mark a significant milestone in the nascent industry\u2019s road towards commercial deployment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Joby in April <a href=\"https:\/\/ir.jobyaviation.com\/news-events\/press-releases\/detail\/127\/joby-achieves-testing-landmark-with-piloted-aircraft\" data-trackable=\"link\">completed <\/a>its first such \u201ctransition\u201d flight in California but this is the first time the start-up has performed the tests as part of a test flight campaign before commercial launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The successful tests, which will take place throughout the summer, were a critical moment for the industry, according to Paul Sciarra, executive chair of Joby.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have been excited about [air taxis] but the real question has been \u2018when\u2019 and \u2018in what way\u2019 are these products going to get into people\u2019s hands and begin to provide valuable service,\u201d he told the Financial Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The tests meant that commercial services were now in prospect, he said, adding: \u201cIt will happen first in Dubai and then more broadly around the world, very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A34d07ec6-1105-4843-8c4e-7895489dbc9d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A34d07ec6-1105-4843-8c4e-7895489dbc9d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A34d07ec6-1105-4843-8c4e-7895489dbc9d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"2288\" height=\"1526\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3Aae1dd908-6afc-4228-8628-c864dc25c14d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3Aae1dd908-6afc-4228-8628-c864dc25c14d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3Aae1dd908-6afc-4228-8628-c864dc25c14d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1879\" height=\"1526\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"n-content-picture__caption o3-editorial-typography-caption\"><span>Construction has started on the first Joby commercial landing port at Dubai\u2019s international airport<\/span><span> <!-- -->\u00a9 Joby<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Founded in 2009, the California-based company is among several start-ups and aerospace incumbents hoping to make the vision of emission-free \u201curban air mobility\u201d a reality through the launch of \u201celectric vertical take-off and landing\u201d (eVTOL) aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Early promises of a speedy revolution in air travel, however, have been slow to deliver. Several companies have been forced to tap investors for more funding and push back certification milestones as the challenges of developing these aircraft have become clearer. There are also other hurdles, such as building the necessary infrastructure and winning public acceptance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s Ehang<a href=\"https:\/\/ir.ehang.com\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/ehangs-eh216-s-evtol-operators-obtain-air-operator-certificates\" data-trackable=\"link\"> earlier this year<\/a> received the necessary approvals from the country\u2019s aviation regulator to start pilotless flights for its autonomous air taxi but these are limited to sightseeing and tourism.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Joby, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, is among the better-capitalised players in the sector. It has raised more than $2bn in funding from investors and other backers, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/390cb9e1-dd8e-4622-886e-d4efa38a9542\" data-trackable=\"link\">carmaker Toyota<\/a>, which is also a manufacturing partner. <\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s air taxi is designed to transport a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 200mph. Sciarra said Joby was on track to start commercial services by the end of this year or early next. Construction has started on the first Joby commercial landing port at Dubai\u2019s international airport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In Dubai, said Sciarra, Joby had seen a \u201creal willingness to get new modes of transportation into the ecosystem as quickly as possible\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The company is going through the certification process of its aircraft with Dubai\u2019s local regulator. It is also working towards getting full approval from the US aviation safety regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Sciarra said Joby expected to secure approval first in Dubai, followed by US certification.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel like from this toehold of commercial service in Dubai, then to US FAA certification\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009that allows us global reach in the short-term.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/a9177d08-0282-4bd3-9051-016640286faa\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}