Joby Aviation is partnering with Virgin Atlantic to start electric air taxi in the UK, marking the seventh place in which the beginning hopes to commercialize one day.
Joby, who was made public in 2021 through the merger of the purchase with special purposes, did not ensure a time limit when planning to begin her partnership with Virgin in the UK a spokesman for the company told Techcrunch that he would come somewhere after JUBY starts in the United Arab Emirates and SH.BA
Jaby hopes to start market testing in Dubai at the end of this year or earlier after submitting his first Evtol plane (Electric Vertical Footoff and Landing) in the country. The beginning had also planned to launch a commercial service in the US, whether in New York or Los Angeles in 2025, but that time limit can be postponed as work to obtain the necessary certificates from the Federal Aviation Administration.
In October 2024, Joby said he was close to receiving type certification – which means approval of the vehicle model – but a spokesman today cannot provide an updated timeframe.
Joby will have to receive its certificates from the UK before starting there too. The company applied for its aircraft to be proven for use by the UK Civil Aviation Authority in July 2022.
Jaby’s connection to Virgin comes nearly seven months after Techcrunch first began that both companies planned to work together-we came through one of our “little birds”.
Under the agreement, Joby will be the exclusive partner of the UK Airline Distribution in the California -based company also has an exclusive reciprocal agreement with another airline, Delta, in the US and UK, but the Virgin’s partnership falls under that existing agreement because Delta owns approximately half of the Virgin.
Joby’s deals with Delta promises to allow customers to enter a premium service that closes them from local vertices directly to the airport. (Vertiports are infrastructure where Evtools Takeoff, Land and Charge.) The virgin partnership promises a similar network of landing sites across the United Kingdom, but will begin connecting passengers from the airline centers at Heathrow Airport and Manchester.
According to the companies, virgin customers will be able to reserve a place in JOBY planes in the future through the Virgin Atlantic website and website.
Partnership with Airlines is one of the main ways Evtol companies are planning to go to the market. Joby’s main rival, Archer Aviation, has made agreements similar to United and Southwest.
Many of those agreements have included investment from the airlines. Delta, for example, has invested $ 60 million in Jaby already, with the opportunity to invest up to $ 200 million more if Joby makes its promises. An investment is not part of the Jaby agreement with the Virgin, according to a work spokesman.
In a statement, Virgin said he would support Jaby UK market efforts by marketing customer service, working with regulators and helping to “build support for the development of landing infrastructure at major airports.”
Joby’s Evtol is created to hold a pilot, four passengers and some luggage. Promises to fly up to 200 miles per hour, making a flight from Leeds to Manchester a 15-minute trip.
Starting is a long road from large -scale deployments, but Joby has declared its intentions to start an air tax service in the US, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Japan, India and Australia.
