Photo credit: WAM

The time-consuming journey to and from Dubai International Airport (DXB) can be a frustrating experience in such a fast-moving city where time means money. 

Thanks to Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), such troubles will be left behind by 2026 with the introduction of flying taxis.

The fully electric air taxis will take to the air in the first quarter of 2026 as part of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) initiatives, when the four “vertiports” begin to go operational. 

Khaled Al Awadhi, Director of the Transportation Systems Department at RTA, confirmed the date on the sidelines of the World Congress and Exhibition on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS World Congress) at the World Trade Center in Dubai. 

The project is considered an ambitious step in the field of autonomous air transportation and aims to provide a modern and efficient means of transportation, as the air taxi is expected to serve different areas of the city, with a focus on linking the service to hotels and the airport, he added.

According to Al Awadhi, the initiative promises swift and safe mobility between key locations across Dubai, namely Dubai International Airport (DXB), Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and Dubai Downtown.

The air taxis will carry four passengers at 320 km/h, with the journey to Palm Jumeirah, for example, from DXB slashed to 10-12 minutes from the 45 minutes it would take by car.

Skyports Infrastructure, the leader in vertiport infrastructure for the Advanced Air Mobility industry, signed during the World Governments Summit in February a Definitive Agreement with RTA and all-electric aircraft company Joby Aviation to launch passenger air taxi services in the emirate by 2026.