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Abu Dhabi Airports Exploring Options For Air Taxis
Abu Dhabi Airports has just signed an agreement with French counterpart Groupe ADP in a bid to explore how airport infrastructure could be updated to incorporate air taxis.
Abu Dhabi Airports has teamed up with France-based Groupe ADP to incorporate air taxis into the airport infrastructure. The two groups have drawn up an advanced air mobility (AAM) plan, focusing on Abu Dhabi’s airspace and the viability of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. If plans are successful, the Emirate could see fleets of highly efficient craft darting around the region, ferrying both people and small cargo loads.
The joint team have agreed to share the responsibilities of planning, development and design and will soon draft a feasibility study after discussions with stakeholders.
“The advanced air mobility system integrates flight technologies with transformational aircraft designs which utilize electric power to hover, take off and land vertically, enabling sustainability in air transport for both passengers and cargo,” says Jamal Al Dhaheri, managing director and chief executive of Abu Dhabi Airports.
It’s hoped that eventually, the planned infrastructure and technology will not only drive further improvements to the region’s sustainability credentials, but also improve transport convenience and efficiency through the use of low maintenance high speed air taxis.
Also Read: Saudi Arabia To Build 150,000 EVs Annually By 2026
Groupe ADP and Abu Dhabi Airports aren’t alone in their desire to develop air taxi infrastructure. Many companies worldwide have already begun to explore the regulatory implications of this new type of transport, and major airlines are keen to develop viable battery-powered aircraft designs that can take off and land vertically.
In the future, it looks increasingly likely that our cities will resemble something from a sci-fi movie, with taxis taking off and landing from “vertiports” on building rooftops, helping residents beat traffic queues and get to main transportation hubs on time.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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