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UAE: Flying taxi operations likely to be launched later this year
Currently, Archer Aviation and Joby are the frontrunners to launch flying taxis in Abu Dhabi and Dubai
- PUBLISHED: Tue 20 Jan 2026, 5:29 PM
- By:
- Waheed Abbas
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Flying taxi operations could be launched in the UAE later this year, making the Emirates one of the first countries to launch this service globally, officials and industry executives said on Tuesday.
Mariam Alobeidli, Inspector-Air Space, General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE, hoped that flying car operators would be licensed to offer their services this year.
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However, she refused to disclose the exact timeframe for the launch of this new mobility service as the certification process is still underway.
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Last year, GCAA said it expected the certification process for air taxis to be completed by the third quarter of 2026, allowing the country to launch the service in the later part of this year.
Mariam Alobeidli pointed out that the UAE's airspace is extremely busy as the country has eight international airports in a span of 200 kilometres from each other.
“We have a very, very busy airspace. You have the biggest airline in the world operating here. On top of that, you have the helicopters and the VIP movements around you. We have a very small, congested airspace. From an airspace perspective, if you make it in the UAE airspace, you'll make it in any airspace," she said, while highlighting the challenges of regulating new mobility solutions such as drone air taxis.
Dr Talib Alhinai, general manager for the UAE, Archer Aviation, also said they’re “looking forward to launch the first electric air taxi services this year here in the UAE. Abu Dhabi is the first launch market for us globally. Beyond that, we're also looking to launch in the US with the Los Angeles Olympics and a few other markets such as New York, Miami, and others.”
They were speaking during panel discussions at the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) and Simulation and Training Exhibition (SimTEX) taking place at Abu Dhabi Exhibition Centre.
Currently, Archer Aviation and Joby are the frontrunners to launch flying taxis in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, thanks to the forward-looking policies and regulations of the government. The companies previously announced plans to roll out air taxi services in the UAE in the first quarter of 2026. But this has been delayed to the later part of this year due to the certification process to ensure the highest safety aspect of passengers and residents.
Alhinai noted that Archer has a design studio where the company not only looks into designing the aircraft and other aspects, but it also looks at aspects related to passenger experience.
“One of the very important things is we want our Midnight aircraft to feel much more like you're stepping into a car than stepping up into a helicopter. How smooth the flight and transition are, are all factors that we’re looking into testing. We fly Midnight every day in California, US, and we have flown in Abu Dhabi, and transitioned over to Al Ain,” he said, adding that in the next stage, Archer will bring over its pilot aircraft to the UAE this summer for in-country tests in advance of starting our passenger operations.
Archer’s UAE general manager noted that Emirates is a great test bed for this technology, because the regulator, ecosystem, and partners work together to allow this to happen and for the UAE to be the first place where passenger operations are available.
