Electric air taxis will begin operating in Dubai during the first quarter of 2026, the city's transport authority has confirmed.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said the air taxis will operate from four vertiports in the emirate – located at Dubai International Airport (DXB), Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and Dubai Downtown. The vehicles are designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at 320 kph.
This means passengers can get from Dubai International Airport to Palm Jumeirah in 10-12 minutes compared to 45 minutes by car, state news agency Wam reported.
“Powered by Joby Aviation, the first point of the four vertiports of the Dubai flying taxi is expected to go into operation in the first quarter of 2026,” said Khaled Al Awadhi, director of the transportation systems department at Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He made his comments speaking on the sidelines of the World Congress and Exhibition on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS World Congress) in Dubai.
“The project is 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.”
The electric air taxis will be considerably less noisy than normal helicopters with a sound of no more than 45 decibels, which is said to be less than the sound of rain.
Easing traffic congestion
The new service will help to reduce the level of traffic across Dubai, said Tyler Trerotola, general manager of the Middle East at Joby Aviation.
“The new service will contribute to easing traffic congestion in Dubai, as it is expected to reduce the travel time from Dubai International Airport to Palm Jumeirah to only 10-12 minutes, compared to the current time of more than 45 minutes during peak times,” he said.
The new heliports will be designed and developed in collaboration with air mobility infrastructure firm Skyports and will include dedicated take-off and landing areas, electric charging facilities, a dedicated passenger area.
Earlier this year, The National reported how the RTA had signed an agreement that provides Joby Aviation with the exclusive right to operate air taxis in Dubai for six years.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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