Air Taxi Company Files to Fly in Australia; $2B Raised

Flying taxi company Joby Aviation has filed for its electric aerial vehicle (EAV) to be certified to be operated in Australia.

Joby also filed to have its certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) validated by regulators at the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority once it receives it.

The Australia request follows a bilateral agreement between the FAA and Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

“We’re incredibly excited about the potential for air taxis to offer new and more sustainable ways to travel around Australia’s global cities,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Joby founder and CEO. “With commercial powered-lift operations already considered in CASA's regulatory frameworks, we’re pleased to be working with Australian authorities using a regulatory path to market that is actively being pursued by numerous countries around the world.”

Joby is at the third of five stages of the type certification process, which takes years and involves elaborate testing and documentation to meet stringent regulations.

The electric Joby flying taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and travel up to 200 mph. The company plans to operate its EAVs in New York City and Los Angeles along with its partner Delta Air Lines.

Related:Air Taxi Powered by Hydrogen for 523-Mile Trip

Joby, which has raised more than $2 billion from investors including Toyota, Delta Air Lines, SK Telecom and Uber, has logged more than 33,00 miles of all-electric flight with a full-scale prototype, according to the company.

Joby also has flown its eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) hydrogen-electric air taxi 523 miles in California in a pre-production, prototype battery-electric flying vehicle with a liquid hydrogen fuel tank and fuel cell system.

The EAV carried 88 pounds of liquid hydrogen and a reduced mass of batteries, which provided additional power for takeoff and landing. 

The system, with hydrogen fed into a fuel cell system, was designed by H2FLY, a German subsidiary of Joby.

Joby recently received FAA approval to use its ElevateOS system, which includes a mobile-first rider app, pilot tools, operations and schedule management software and an intelligent matching engine.

Joby acquired the Uber Elevation air taxi division of Uber in 2021 and has been developing and testing the software tools since then. 

Since the flying taxi is not yet approved for passenger carrying, Joby plans to use conventional aircraft that carry the same number of passengers as Joby’s to use the ride-hailing features.

Related:Flying Taxi Company Third Stage Certification Approved by FAA

Joby also has an exclusive agreement to provide flying taxi service in Dubai.

Joby had acquired the autonomy division of Xwing, which has been developing automated flying technology since 2016 with Xwing flying autonomous aircraft since 2020 using software it developed in-house.

Archer Aviation, the other major air taxi company, has an agreement to collaborate on future autonomous flight with Wisk Aero. Boeing last year invested $450 million in Wisk and later acquired the startup, making it a Boeing subsidiary. 

While Joby is partnered with Delta, Archer has a partnership with United Airlines.

EHang in China is already flying two-passenger, flying vehicles without pilots on board. 

The Xwing expertise Joby acquired includes perception technology, system integration and certification.

The integration of the companies provides Joby with technology for near-term piloted operations and fully autonomous operations sometime in the future.

A major advantage of the deal is the added relationships with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), since the U.S. military has been active in exploring the electric aerial revolution.

Joby has been working with the U.S. Air Force and delivered one of its eVTOL vehicles to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, following one delivered to Edwards Air Force Base in California last year.

Related:Joby Aviation Acquires Autonomous Flight Technology

Joby has a $163 million contract with the DOD AFWERX Agility Prime program and has been working with the DoD since 2016, when it received early military funding in its development program.

For its military history, Xwing was included in the U.S. Air Force Agile Flag 24-1 Joint Force exercise earlier this year, with its autonomously flying Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft.