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Saudi Arabia’s First Electric Air Taxi Completes Test Flight

The week-long program was a collaboration between NEOM representatives, Volocopter, and Saudi aviation authorities.

Published

3 years ago

June 22, 2023

saudi arabia's first electric air taxi completes test flight

Representatives from NEOM — the massive Saudi Arabian smart city development project — and urban air mobility company Volocopter have announced the successful completion of a test flight by an eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) air taxi service.

The week-long test flight program was the first of its kind to receive the go-ahead from Saudi officials, and was conducted in collaboration with the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).

NEOM and Volocopter aim to implement and scale a complete electric UAM ecosystem in the upcoming smart city development as part of their shared vision for a clean, sustainable future.

volocopter evtol in saudi arabia neom

NEOM CEO, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, said: “The successful test flight of a Volocopter eVTOL is […] another milestone towards creating NEOM’s innovative, sustainable, multimodal transportation system. Driving the development of smart, sustainable, and safe mobility systems will improve livability and connectivity in cities worldwide and reduce carbon emissions, creating a cleaner future for all”.

Meanwhile, Volocopter Chief Commercial, Christian Bauer, was equally enthusiastic about the results of the test flight: “It is beyond exciting to see our work from the past 18 months come to fruition. As the first eVTOL aircraft to ever test in Saudi Arabia, we are proud to have laid the groundwork for our future collaboration here in NEOM”.

Also Read: Dubai Hospital Delivery Drone Completes Successful First Trial

Volocopter’s eVTOLs will be powered by 100% renewable energy from solar and wind sources. The electric craft will also be multi-use, with plans to deploy them as taxis, emergency response vehicles, and more. The electric helicopters should be easily adaptable, cheaper to run than conventional models, and a good deal quieter. Meanwhile, smart and autonomous capabilities ensure high levels of safety in confined cityscapes.

The air taxi test flight announcement comes after NEOM’s EUR 175 million investment into Volocopter, which recently confirmed that its production plant in Bruchsal, Germany, now had the capacity to build over 50 helicopters per year.

Related Topics:Air Taxi eVTOL NEOM Saudi Arabia

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NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders

A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Nour Nasir

neopay wants to follow merchants across channels and borders

It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.

The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.

For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.

“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.

Also Read: In Kuwait, Your Surgeon Might Be Operating From Another Country

NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.

The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.