Abu Dhabi Announces First Successful Flying Taxi Test Flight

Abu Dhabi on Wednesday announced a successful test flight of its flying taxi at Al Bateen Executive Airport.

The US-based Archer Aviation and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) announced the successful flight ahead of its commercial launch set to take place early next year.

"Today is the first step of many steps that are going to happen to enable the commercialisation of air taxis in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. We don't just test to test, but test to commercialise. We're not just launching an air taxi service, we're building an ecosystem around us - from pilot training to MROs to talent development to manufacturing with Archer Aviation, with the facility in Al Ain," said Omran Malek, head of autonomous mobility and robotics at Abu Dhabi Investment Office.

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"We are also collaborating with universities on what curricula or short diplomas need to be developed for the workforce that will go into this ecosystem."

He said the test phase will continue into the summer to“understand how this vehicle will withstand the unique summer environment with humidity and dust. Then we'll bring this aircraft to fly over the city and then into the commercial phase in early 2026.”

The successful launch of a test flight by Abu Dhabi comes a couple of days after a similar successful test launch by Joby Aviation in Dubai. Both the emirates are looking to launch flying taxis in the next few quarters.

Dr Talib Alhinai, manager of Archer Aviation in the UAE, said Archer just completed its first flight of its Midnight aircraft in the UAE capital, which is Archer's planned first global launch market.

“It was a vertical takeoff and landing flight at the Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi city. Our initial flight test operations in the UAE are focused specifically on evaluating the aircraft's performance, including high temperature, humidity, and dust exposure. This allows us to validate our readiness for a planned commercial deployment in the UAE. The initial aircraft that we brought to the UAE specifically focuses on testing the UAE's conditions, and so it's not one of our piloted aircraft. We plan to have those in operation in the UAE later this year,” he said.

“Once we validate that readiness, we'll be able to assess our readiness for commercial deployments and expand our flight test programme.”

In the initial phase of commercial launch, Archer plans to deploy a small fleet of aircraft to the UAE.

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Omran Malek noted that the priority is to launch the commercial operations safely and have the ecosystem ready with the vertiports and integration with the airspace.“So, all that is the priority for us to launch in Abu Dhabi.”

He added that the aim is to launch commercial flying taxi services in early 2026 in Abu Dhabi.

He added that the manufacturing of the flying taxis by Archer will begin in Al Ain in 2027. And in the next phase, they will be exported to other countries as well due to strong interest from regional countries.

In terms of pricing, he said that the assumption is that this new mode of transportation is“only for luxury travellers, which is not the case in Abu Dhabi. The price will be feasible for the public. As we introduce more vertiports and aeroplanes, that price will scale down so that it can be used on a daily basis.”

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