Elite Experience — logo officiel
Elite Experience — logo officiel

Joby electric aircraft flying above Monterey Bay
Editorial Focus · Electric Air Mobility

JOBY
AVIATION

A closer look at the aircraft, passenger experience and engineering behind one of electric aviation’s most closely watched programmes.

What is Joby?

A new language
for short-distance flight

Joby is developing a piloted, all-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft designed to carry four passengers. Six tilting propellers allow the aircraft to take off vertically, transition to wing-borne flight and land within a compact footprint. Four battery packs, a carbon-composite structure and an intentionally restrained acoustic signature shape an experience conceived for city-to-city and airport connections.

1 + 4Pilot + passengers
200 mphTop design speed
100 miDesigned range
45 dBACruise at 500 m
Passenger approaching a Joby electric aircraft at sunset
Interior of the Joby electric aircraft cabin
Passenger Experience

Designed around the quiet moments

A four-seat passenger cabin, panoramic glazing and space for four carry-on bags bring the aircraft closer to a private ground-transfer experience than to conventional short-haul aviation. The electric powertrain removes the combustion engine from the journey; Joby reports a target sound level of 65 dBA during landing when measured from 100 metres.

Engineering

From composite shell to flight-ready aircraft

Joby’s production system brings composite fabrication, propulsion, batteries, final assembly and testing into one programme. In June 2026, Joby and Toyota announced the initial phase of a strategic manufacturing alliance intended to support higher-volume aircraft production.

Toyota is referenced here solely as part of Joby’s documented industrial programme. It is not presented as a partner of Elite Experience.
Joby Aviation composite fuselage during manufacturing
Joby Aviation aircraft installation in Dubai
Dubai Chapter

From test programme to launch market

Dubai has hosted Joby’s piloted aircraft testing and public presentation programme. The city remains central to the company’s planned first commercial passenger operations, subject to certification, regulatory approval and operational readiness. The distinction matters: this is a launch programme in development, not a claim that routine passenger service is already operating.

Austin · United States Grand Prix

Electric flight enters the public conversation

At the 2025 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, Joby displayed its aircraft and invited visitors to explore the cabin. It was a public exhibition, not a flight demonstration — an important nuance in documenting the event accurately.

17–19 October 2025 · Austin, Texas

Joby Aviation aircraft exhibited at the 2025 United States Grand Prix in Austin
Joby electric aircraft beside a vertiport at night
Infrastructure

The vertiport is part of the experience

An electric air-taxi journey depends on more than the aircraft. Charging, passenger flow, ground access, turnaround and integration with airports or city transport all shape the service. Joby’s vertiport work illustrates how the company is designing the operating environment alongside the vehicle.

New developments & 2027 outlook

Joby in 2026

Selected milestones drawn from Joby’s official newsroom and investor publications. Dates refer to the public announcement, not necessarily the start of the underlying work.

Blade, a Joby company, announced the seasonal return of BLADEone between the New York area and South Florida from 19 November 2026 to 2 May 2027. Aero is the operating airline; this is a jet service, not Joby’s electric air taxi.

Joby reported completing what it described as the first fully autonomous flight across the United States, extending its autonomy programme beyond the piloted electric-air-taxi effort.

Texas began a week-long eIPP flight campaign with Joby and TxDOT, including routes in the Dallas–Fort Worth region and into DFW. These were demonstrations and data-gathering flights, not a commercial passenger launch.

Joby announced an agreement to acquire Resonant Sciences to expand its defence business. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory review and other customary conditions.

Joby announced a 45,000-square-foot lease at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, positioning it as a future North Texas operating hub.

Joby reported its strongest quarterly progress yet in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification, with five aircraft flying and 12 more in production. At the time, the company continued to target carrying its first passengers in 2026.

Joby and Atoms announced plans to acquire and develop vertiport sites in selected U.S. markets. The locations are part of a proposed network, not completed facilities.

Joby and Virgin Atlantic finalised their partnership to develop air-taxi service in the United Kingdom.

Joby published its 2025 Impact Report on 16 July 2026, covering people, product and environmental priorities.

Joby and Toyota launched the initial phase of a strategic manufacturing alliance.

A week-long New York City flight campaign brought the aircraft to one of its most visible prospective markets.

Looking Ahead — 2027

Ambition, with the milestones made clear

Joby’s published manufacturing plan aims for production capacity of four aircraft per month in 2027. Separately, RAKTA, Joby and Skyports have announced a target to launch an air-taxi service in Ras Al Khaimah by 2027.

Both are forward-looking targets. Passenger operations remain dependent on aircraft type certification, operating approvals, infrastructure and operational readiness.

Continue exploring

Today’s helicopter access.
Tomorrow’s electric mobility.

Discover Elite Experience’s editorial coverage across private aviation and landmark luxury events.

Independent editorial feature by Elite Experience. Joby Aviation, Toyota and other organisations cited are not presented as partners of Elite Experience. Performance figures are Joby design targets or published values and remain subject to certification, operating conditions and final service configuration.