DUBAI: Dubai commuters may soon have a new way to skip traffic: air taxis.

Joby Aviation conducted the first test flight of its fully-electric air taxi in the emirate this week, a major milestone in the city`s efforts to integrate airborne transport into existing mobility networks as early as next year.

Joby hopes its air-taxis will ease pressure on existing ground transportation and offer travelers a faster alternative as Dubai faces increasing congestion.

`We want to change the way people commute,` Anthony Khoury, Joby`s UAE General Manager, said.

A journey from Dubai`s main airport DXB to Palm Jumeirah aboard the Joby Aerial Taxi will take roughly twelve minutes, the company predicts, as opposed to 45 minutes by car.

While Joby`s long-term ambition is to make its aerial taxis `affordable for everybody to use,` Khoury says, theyacknowledge early pricing will likely target higher-income travelers. `As with any novel technology, early days might be a bit more premium.` The demonstration flight was held on Monday at an isolated desert site southeast of Dubais downtown and was designed to emulate a typical aerial taxi journey, according to Joby Aviation officials.

In a ceremony attended by senior government officials, transport executives and company representatives, the experimental aircraft executed a vertical takeoff, flew for several miles, and thenreturnedfora verticallanding.

The Joby Aerial Taxi, the flagship electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developed by the California-based company, can fly distances of up to 160 kilometres at speeds reaching 320km/hr (200mph).

w-Reuters