Zipping silently home from the airport in a sleek electric aircraft above the gridlock and noise sounds wonderful – and Dubai’s “flying taxis” are slated to make this a reality early next year, with four key points in the city earmarked as launchpads. 

November’s Dubai Airshow is a clear signal of intent. A dedicated pavilion for clunkily named eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) will see companies such as Joby and Archer showcase models that they claim could be airborne and commercially operative by 2026. “We’ve expanded the show by 8,000 square metres,” Dubai Airports CEO, Paul Griffiths, tells Monocle. “A number of eVTOL firms are planning to fly their aircraft publicly for the first time. It’ll be tremendously exciting.”

Dubai has completed test flights and has plans to launch its first commercial air-taxi routes next year, linking four vertiports at Dubai International Airport, Downtown, the Marina and Palm Jumeirah. In Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, US-based Archer Aviation is to introduce its Midnight aircraft, capable of flying four passengers. It’s aiming to cut the tricky Abu Dhabi-Dubai journey from 90 minutes by road to a mere 20 minutes in the sky.

“The technology is ready now,” says Archer CEO Adam Goldstein. “Tesla led a revolution in battery tech that’s made its way into aviation. Governments are working with industry to shape standards and real capital is coming in.”

But why here, and not in Archer’s home market of the US? “Everyone in the UAE said, ‘We want to make this happen,’” says Goldstein. “It’s more agile and ambitious. From the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to Mubadala and Etihad, the alignment is unique – and it’s our gateway to the Gulf, India and the rest of Asia.”

There’s also the fact that such innovation couldn’t work elsewhere (yet). Imagine trying to land an eVTOL in Manhattan or London, where airspace is crowded, infrastructure outdated and regulators rightly cautious. Add in noise complaints, rooftop logistics, the danger of crashes and decades of urban planning designed specifically not to accommodate flying vehicles, and the whole thing starts to look absurdly far away. In cities where the average building permit takes months to secure, the idea of regular rooftop landings feels fanciful at best. 

By contrast, the UAE has space, capital, a centralised system that accelerates decision-making and even favourable weather. Crucially it has the ambition, spurred on by a friendly but fervent rivalry between Dubai and Abu Dhabi that has already delivered competing museums, megaprojects and cultural districts. Flying taxis, it seems, are the next prize.

“This is just version 1.0,” says Griffiths. “Once we get greater endurance and payloads, you won’t need roads or traffic lights. You’ll simply fly.” 

Inzamam Rashid is Monocle’s Dubai-based Gulf correspondent.

Monocle Radio’s The Entrepreneurs recently discussed flying taxis with Archer Aviation’s CEO – listen below: