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Joby is positioning this service as a way to book an all-electric air taxi directly through the Uber app, just as one would order a car today. Meanwhile, in Florida, House Bill 1093 took effect on 1 July, paving the way for publicly funded vertiport development and signalling the state's commitment to advanced air mobility. These announcements are just two in a flurry of recent developments in the sector.
While air taxis may sound futuristic, the concept is not entirely new. Similar services operated in major cities from the 1950s through to the 1970s, although today's aircraft are dramatically different in both technology and design. This week, we break down some of the new terminology and examine how these technologies might shape the future of luxury travel.
What exactly is Advanced Air Mobility?
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is an emerging sector of aviation designed to serve passengers looking to travel by air over short distances, for example, from city centres to airports.
These ‘air taxis’ combine elements of helicopters and aeroplanes and are often referred to as eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft). Like helicopters, they can take off and land vertically without a runway. An airport for these aircraft is known as a vertiport. These facilities are much smaller than traditional airports and are intended to be integrated into high-traffic areas such as marinas, stadiums, city centres, and hospitals.
Rather than requiring entirely new airports, many developers envision adapting existing helicopter facilities into vertiports, reducing both costs and construction time. Florida's recent legislation is intended to support this type of infrastructure development.
Once airborne, many of these aircraft transition to winged flight, allowing them to travel more efficiently and quietly than traditional helicopters. They are electrically powered and designed to produce significantly less noise and fewer emissions, with lower operating costs than conventional helicopters.
How is this different from existing services such as BLADE, which offers short flights from New York City to the Hamptons and to and from airports?
The primary difference is the type of aircraft. BLADE uses conventional helicopters and, in some cases, seaplanes. Air taxi companies such as Joby, Archer Aviation, and Eve Air Mobility are developing quieter, all-electric aircraft designed specifically for frequent urban passenger flights. One of the major advantages of eVTOL technology is its potential to reduce operating costs over time, making short-distance air travel more accessible than traditional helicopter services.
What might booking an air taxi look like in practice?
Joby has marketed the service as being very similar to ordering an Uber ride today. Passengers would use the Uber app to book a flight at short notice. The service would then arrange ground transport from the passenger's current location to the vertiport. From there, the passenger would check in, potentially avoiding some of the usual airport formalities, before reaching their destination in a matter of minutes.
Dubai is expected to be among the first cities to launch commercial air taxi services. Widespread adoption in the US and UK, however, will likely take longer as regulators continue to certify aircraft and develop the frameworks needed for these types of commercial operations.
What does this mean for the future of luxury travel?
For travellers accustomed to private aviation, Advanced Air Mobility has the potential to transform the ‘last mile’ of a journey. Busy families, for example, could land at a major airport and then take an air taxi directly to a city centre, marina or luxury resort, bypassing the road traffic that often adds significant time to a journey.
While this level of convenience may still be several years away in many countries, we look forward to following Joby's rollout in Dubai and watching how similar services develop across the US, Europe, and the UK.
Further Reading:
NPR Short Wave: Sky Uber? Air taxis could be here soon (Podcast)
McKinsey & Company: Perspectives on Advanced Air Mobility
FAA: Advanced Air Mobility | Air Taxis
FAA Announces Major Milestone in eVTOL Technology Use
