News

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.

Published

3 years ago

February 12, 2024

Nour Nasir

joby to launch high-speed air taxi service in dubai

Joby Aviation

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 aviation rta skyports dubai

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 aviation infographic

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.

Also Read: e& To Establish Largest Subsea Cable Connection In UAE

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.

Related Topics:Air Taxi Aviation Dubai Joby RTA

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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.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

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.