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Joby To Launch High-Speed Air Taxi Service In Dubai
The agreement grants Joby exclusive rights to operate a fleet of air taxis in Dubai for six years, with operations beginning as soon as 2025.
Electric aircraft company Joby Aviation, has announced an agreement with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) to introduce air taxi services in the Emirate by early 2026, with plans for initial operations as soon as 2025.
The agreement, formalized at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, grants Joby exclusive rights to operate air taxis in Dubai for six years. The partnership aims to position Dubai as a global leader in swift, environmentally friendly, and noise-conscious air travel using Joby’s groundbreaking technology.
JoeBen Bevirt, CEO and founder of Joby Aviation, commented: “It is an honor to partner with the government of Dubai to demonstrate the value of sustainable air travel to the world. Today’s landmark agreement delivers on all three ingredients required to successfully launch an air taxi service – a definitive path to operations, well-placed infrastructure supported by dedicated partners, and an aircraft with the capacity and range to deliver meaningful journeys”.
Joby has also forged an agreement with Skyports, who are tasked with the design, construction, and management of four initial vertiport sites at Dubai International Airport (DXB), Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, and Dubai Downtown.
Joby’s aircraft, unveiled for the first time in the region at the World Governments Summit, is engineered to accommodate a pilot and four passengers, achieving speeds of up to 200 miles per hour for a projected travel time of just 10 minutes from Dubai International Airport to Palm Jumeirah, as opposed to the 45 minutes it takes by car.
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His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors for RTA, also released a statement, explaining, “The air taxi service is part of RTA’s efforts to embrace future transportation technologies and offers a novel and efficient mobility option for Dubai’s residents and visitors, enabling fast, safe, and convenient travel to key city spots. This service will also enhance seamless multimodal transportation, improving citywide connectivity and ensuring a smooth travel experience for passengers”.
In the future, RTA, Joby, and Skyports will integrate the service into Dubai’s broader public transportation network. Joby has established a local operating entity to bolster its operations in Dubai and plans to predominantly hire locally for its operational team. Additionally, the company is open to localizing other global business activities in Dubai and the surrounding region.
News
LUVED Is A New Curated Preloved Marketplace For The UAE
Sellers keep 100 percent of every sale and AI can build a listing in five seconds — though the app’s smartest tools are still coming.
Secondhand shopping has become mainstream in the UAE, but the experience is still scattered across resale sites, social media and informal group chats. LUVED, a mobile-first marketplace that launched in Dubai this month, is betting it can pull that activity into one place — and that the thing buyers and sellers actually want is not more inventory, but trust.
The app trades in what it calls circular luxury: preloved fashion and lifestyle pieces across men’s, women’s and children’s categories, bought, sold or given away peer to peer. Its main pitch is economics, with sellers keeping 100 percent of every sale under a zero-commission, fast payout model, while buyers are promised vetted pieces at lower prices.
Where LUVED is staking its reputation is verification. Sellers pass a KYC check, and items run through a two-layer authentication system powered by Entrupy that pairs instant AI screening with human expert review for high-value pieces. Authenticity certificates travel with each item, payments sit in escrow, and a buyer-protection package the company calls The Safety Net adds a 48-hour return window and dispute resolution. Door-to-door logistics removes the in-person meetups that make most resale deals awkward.
An in-app assistant called Luvbot — offering selling insights and demand-based recommendations — is soon to be introduced to the platform. Other features include autofill and dynamic pricing that lets users build a listing in as little as five seconds from three photos, plus a swipe-based feed, story-style drops and in-app chat in English and Arabic. Finally, a gifting layer, Luved & Gifted, lets users pass items to others inside the app rather than sell them.
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“After moving to Dubai, I saw how difficult it was to sell or even give things away,” says founder and CEO Shaima Sibtain. The friction is real, and so is the competition. In resale, trust is won transaction by transaction — and that is the test LUVED has set itself.
The app is live on the App Store now, with Google Play to follow. The company also plans to expand across the region, which will be the real test for a marketplace staking everything on trust.
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