Mashable: Flying taxis will be fully operational by 2026

Dubai is becoming more futuristic day by the day.

With driverless taxis set to launch by next year, residents will soon be able to travel by air taxis.

By the year 2026, the Emirates will witness full operations of air taxis.

On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, on the last day of the 3rd Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, Duncan Walker, the CEO of the London-based company which is tasked to build the United Arab Emirates’ first vertiport confirmed that flying taxis will be fully operational by the year 2026.

Dubai City will be home to flying taxis as well as vertical airports aka “vertiports” in three years.

According to the Khaleej Times, CEO of Skyports, Duncan Walker while speaking on Wednesday at the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport revealed that air taxi services will become a reality by 2026 and the aircraft will take off and land on the vertiports.

With this, Dubai will be the first city in the world to have a fully-developed network of vertiports for permanent air taxi services.

Air taxi service

The air taxi service will use electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Design

In February 2023, during the World Government Summit in Dubai, the Skyports Infrastructure already got its vertiport design approved.

Operation

The main hub for the flying taxi vertiport is set to be located near Dubai International Airport (DXB). The air taxis will initially operate to and from vertiport stations in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown, as well as Dubai Marina.

Accommodation, speed, and time

The aerial taxis can seat a pilot and up to four passengers. It has also been revealed earlier that air taxis will have top speeds of 300kmph, with a maximum range of 241km.

On Wednesday, Walker confirmed that the taxis will usually commute during peak hours from DXB to Palm Jumeirah and travel time will be cut down from 45 minutes to six minutes.