Flying taxi service coming to a Middle East vertiport near you, very soon
Using the skies and a series of vertiports in cities across the UAE and wider Gulf region will help unclog roads and offer an efficient and faster way to travel, a US aviation company has said.
California-based Odys Aviation is one of several firms developing vertical take-off and landing aircraft that will cut journey times between cities by at least half.
Odys Aviation’s Alta nine-seater hybrid-electric aircraft, which has a range of 1,200km – or 320km on electric – will carry passengers from a vertiport in Abu Dhabi to a similar landing location in Dubai in 20 minutes. This means it could deliver people from door-todoor in half an hour using localised launchpads.
It is being developed for unmanned cargo operations with the Middle East’s biggest courier company, Aramex, and is expected to be ready by 2027.
Odys Aviation said the passenger version of the Alta aircraft, which will have a pilot, could be ready for operations a year later.
James Dorris, chief executive of Odys Aviation, said the Alta aircraft will show a new direction for the aviation industry.
“We see the overall arc of aviation turning from companies [like Boeing and Airbus] that make wing and tube aircraft over and over again into what we think the future of aviation is going to be, which is much smaller and much more distributed operations,” he said.
The UAE has been leading the way in advanced air mobility, with Dubai expected to operate flying taxis by 2026.
An agreement signed ahead of the World Governments Summit by the Roads and Travel Authority, the GCAA, and other partners, could mean the Joby Aviation S4 four-passenger aerial taxi will be operating commercially from vertiports at Dubai International Airport, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina two years from now.
Ahmed Bahrozyan, head of the Public Transport Agency at Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, told The National last year that a ride between the vertiports would cost little more than the average Careem to hail.
While most that have been planned for the UAE are electric and have a range of between 100km and 200km, Alta’s hybrid-electric propulsion systems give it a distinct advantage with its 1,200km range.
“It lets us fly from any point within the UAE to any other point without using a drop of fuel, but if you needed to fly from Dubai to Riyadh, you could do that – from downtown to downtown, city rooftop to rooftop,” said Mr Dorris.
Odys, however, will make its market entry with its smaller, unmanned Laila cargo aircraft, which has a capacity of about 45kg to 60kg. Alaa Saoudi, Aramex’s chief operating officer for express, said the company will work with Odys on a test flight programme.
“Upon approval from regional regulatory bodies, the two companies intend to launch operations and commercial activities and expand to demonstrable routes,” he said.
Aramex has launched VTOL drone last mile delivery operations in Oman on specific routes, with plans to “expand to other urban areas and complex routes in 2024”, Mr Saoudi said.