Flying Taxis In UAE: Firms In Talks With Emirates For Nationwide Services

Air taxi developer and operator Joby Aviation and infrastructure development firm Skyports are in talks with other emirates to launch flying taxi services across the country, officials said.

“ We want to launch (air taxis) across all of the UAE. Our ambition is to be everywhere. The Ras Al Khaimah agreement has been signed. We would love to be in Abu Dhabi. We would love to be in Sharjah and Ajman to serve the commuters. A lot of these discussions are happening, and they're at different stages of maturity. Some are quite mature; others are still early. We're having discussions with most of the emirates,” Anthony Khoury, UAE General Manager, Joby Aviation, told Khaleej Times in an interview.

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The US-based company is developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi. It had signed an agreement with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to launch a flying taxi in the emirate next year.

On Monday, Joby inked a deal with the Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority (RAKTA) and Skyports Infrastructure to launch a passenger air taxi service in Ras Al Khaimah in the first half of 2027, connecting Dubai with Al Marjan Island (Ras Al Khaimah).

Joby, RTA, and Skyports are building the UAE's first vertiport at Dubai International Airport, and the construction at the vertiport is advancing at an exponential pace.

The US-based Archer Aviation has also signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi authorities to launch an air taxi service within the UAE capital and between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

This new eco-friendly mode of transport will initially mainly cater to the tourism industry and will be pricier. As this segment grows, it is expected that it will cater to a wider general public.

Air taxi services in Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman will help reduce traffic congestion as well as travel time .

Joby said travel time between Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah will be reduced from more than an hour to less than 15 minutes with the launch of the air taxi service in the first half of 2027.

Duncan Walker, CEO, Skyports, told Dubai Eye that they're in talks with other emirates too to build the infrastructure for air taxi services.

“We've signed with Ajman. We're in discussions with Sharjah. Abu Dhabi will come on stream in the not-too-distant future. There's a lot of activity happening down there, and the more connectedness we can get around the Emirates, the more it suits the customer and the network, and it hopefully provides a really valuable service to a lot of people,” he said.

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