Flying taxis will be seen in Dubai’s skies next year: Incredible video shows passengers being flung through the air at 190mph – with a flight from the airport to the Palm taking just 10 minutes

Sci-fi films like Star Wars and The Fifth Element have long depicted cities with flying taxis zooming through the air at high speeds.

Finally, it looks like this ultimate form of convenience will make its way into the real word.

A Californian company called Joby Aviation says it will organize commercial flying taxi rides around Dubai next year.

Incredible images show what luxury will be like for paying passengers, who, like today’s airports, will wait at ‘vertiports’ for their flight to depart.

The company’s propeller-driven taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour.

At that speed, a flight from Dubai Airport to Palm Jumeirah, the city’s archipelago of artificial islands and tourist hotspot, would take just 10 minutes – a journey that Joby estimates takes 45 minutes by car.

The company has signed an agreement with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) to launch air taxi services there in early 2026, with Joby targeting initial operations as early as next year.

“It is an honor to work with the Government of Dubai to demonstrate the value of sustainable air travel to the world,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation.

“We look forward to delivering an incredible experience to Dubai residents and visitors as early as 2025 and are excited to lay the foundation for the expansion of our service across the wider UAE.”

Joby’s flying taxi is known as a VTOL aircraft – a type of craft that can take off straight into the air instead of having to build up speed over the ground first, thus requiring less runway space.

Powered by six electric motors, it delivers a smooth ride that the company says feels more like getting into an SUV than aboard an airplane.

VTOL aircraft can rise straight into the air instead of having to build up speed on the ground first, requiring less runway space. Here Joby’s electric air taxi is seen at the World Governments Summit in Dubai

The company’s taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 320 km per hour.

Joby has also signed an agreement with British delivery company Skyports, which will design, build and operate four ‘vertiport’ locations in Dubai where the taxi will operate from

The taxi has a range of 160 kilometers before it runs out of power and is therefore not suitable for long-distance flights.

Like the electric car revolution happening on the ground, Joby’s taxis are fully electric, meaning they emit no toxic pollutants.

Joby – which launched test flights with a pilot on board in California in October – has also signed an agreement with British delivery company Skyports.

Skyports, based in London, will design, build and operate four ‘vertiport’ locations in Dubai where the taxi can depart.

Together, the partners have identified Dubai International Airport, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and Dubai Downtown as the vertiport locations.

Customers booked a ride with Joby’s flying taxi via a smartphone app and received their ticket before going through a barrier at their departure point.

As in today’s airports, passengers were greeted in Vertiport lounges before departure, although this could be limited to the very wealthy.

A spokesperson for Joby told MailOnline that it will confirm the price of a one-way ticket at a later date, but added that it wants to make it as accessible as possible.

It will also be “significantly cheaper” than a private helicopter flight – a luxury typically afforded by millionaires.

Similar to today’s airports, passengers are greeted in ‘vertiport’ lounges in a flying Joby taxi before departure (artist’s image)

Customers booked a ride with Joby’s flying taxi via a smartphone app and received their ticket before going through a barrier at their departure point.

Joby has been conducting test flights in the US since October and conducted an exhibition flight in New York City in November.

It was the city’s first-ever electric air taxi flight and the first time Joby flew in an urban environment

Joby is not the only company that wants to bring flying taxis to Dubai, although the Californian company now has the exclusive right to operate air taxis there.

London-based startup Bellwether Industries completed a test flight of its all-electric VTOL prototype in the city in late 2021.

Meanwhile, German company Volocopter will transport passengers around Paris during this year’s Summer Olympics.

It has already conducted a successful test flight with its VoloCity VTOL, which looks more like a helicopter or a giant drone than a car.