Joby Aviation has successfully performed an exhibition flight in New York City with its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
This marks the first time that Joby has flown its aircraft in an urban setting. In addition, this was the first-ever electric air taxi flight conducted in the city.
On Sunday 12 November, the aircraft was flown from the Downtown Heliport in Manhattan. The following day, New York City Mayor, Eric Adams announced the city’s intention to electrify this location to lay the groundwork for New York to adopt eVTOL operations.
JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation said:By electrifying one of the most famous heliports in the world, New York is demonstrating global leadership in the adoption of electric air travel. We’re grateful for the support of the city, and we’re honoured to be working with visionary partners like Delta Air Lines to bring our air taxi service to this market. We plan to make quiet, emissions-free flight an affordable, everyday reality for New Yorkers, while significantly reducing the impact of helicopter noise.
Through its partnership with Delta Air Lines, Joby expects New York to be one of its early launch markets. This will be possible once it has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for passenger operations.
The company plans to offer fast, quiet journeys using its piloted, four-passenger electric eVTOL aircraft, which has been designed to provide rapid, back-to-back flights. This aircraft can travel up to 100 miles on a single charge, thus covering 99% of trips currently taken across New York City’s five boroughs.
The use of eVTOLs is expected to provide more reliable and sustainable journeys. Indeed, travelling from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) can take more than an hour by car, but Joby states that the trip could take just seven minutes by air.
