Move over Star Wars – the future of flying is set to play out in the skies over Dubai.
With enough space for a pilot and four passengers, and with expected speeds of up to 322kph, Joby Aviation’s flying taxis – or electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – could revolutionise not only air travel but the travel industry in general.
Dubai is one of the first cities in the world to commit to using flying taxis and work is under way to build vertiports or launch pads at four locations across the emirate.
But while some of the first commercial experiences of the flying taxis are expected to play out in Dubai, the building of these game-changing vehicles is happening in a surprising part of the world: last month, Joby Aviation announced a new, $500 million facility to build its eVTOLs – not in California, where it is headquartered, but in corn country in south-west Ohio.
The new plant, to be constructed close to an airport outside the city of Dayton, will employ up to 2,000 people and pump out 500 aircraft a year. Joby Aviation hopes to launch commercial flights in 2025.
But why Ohio, thousands of kilometres from established tech centres in Silicon Valley or New York?
The answer partly lies in history. America’s first plane factory was built by Orville and Wilbur Wright in Dayton in 1910, where the brothers turned out four planes a month.
Several years prior, the Wright brothers became the first people to successfully fly a manned aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, changing the course of human history.
“Dayton has a tremendous history in aviation – it’s the birthplace of flight where the Wright brothers worked to develop and test their revolutionary aircraft,” a Joby Aviation representative told The National.
Tradition aside, Dayton and surrounding cities have long-standing aviation infrastructure.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the largest single-site employer in Ohio, has attracted a growing ecosystem of aviation and aerospace start-ups and other companies in recent years.
Dubai's flying taxi could connect emirate's major tourist spots – video
The US Air Force Research Laboratory, a key military research and development facility that is headquartered at the base, has played a key role in developing the flying taxis.
“We received tremendous support in Ohio at every level of the community. We have a history here, working in Ohio since 2020 through our [Department of Defence] contract,” the Joby Aviation representative added.
“The existing talented workforce played an important role, as did our ability to secure a site that’s on an airport, with an initial facility built and ready to go that is close to Wright-Patterson.”
Perhaps just as consequential are the generous tax breaks the state has promised Joby, thought to amount to more than $200 million through a range of programmes and avenues.
Ohio beat out bids from North Carolina, Michigan and California to host the new plant.
Joby has been testing its aircraft alongside Nasa engineers in Ohio for years. In nearby Springfield, the US Air Force has been involved in building a new National Advanced Air Mobility Centre of Excellence, which will serve as a working home for companies from South Korea and elsewhere.
The company’s stocks have soared in recent months since the US Federal Aviation Administration approved its flying taxis for initial testing. In 2020, the company received funding from Saudi Arabia's Jameel Investment Management Company.
But none of this means the revolution in transport will be quick and painless.
Like any airborne vehicle used commercially, safety requirements and regulations are likely to be extremely high.
Meeting such requirements is likely going to require highly educated and skilled workers, whether they are trained in-house or at local colleges and universities. Some experts believe that may be a challenge.
“I think a lot of these roles are going to be a lot more high-tech than what it was in the past,” said Annelies Goger of Brookings Metro, a Washington-based think tank, referring to the factories that built vehicles across the Midwest throughout the 20th century.
“The challenge is going to be how you find people who have skills.”
The history and culture of manufacturing in America’s Midwest may help: with world-leading vehicles and other technology produced in the industrial heartland for decades, there is an ingrained culture of production and innovation – at least among older residents – that companies such as Joby may look to revive when it comes to recruiting talent.
“Given the dynamics of the labour market right now and the demographics that younger generations are smaller than baby boomers, it’s going to be interesting to see how they message and recruit people and how they market the plant,” Ms Goger said.
Meanwhile, Joby Aviation has been moving closer to its end goal of getting paying passengers into its aircraft and into the skies.
Last month, it announced the delivery of its first aircraft to the US Air Force. This month, it released footage of the first manned flights of its eVTOLs in California – until now, the aircraft had been controlled remotely from engineers on the ground.
The company was recently feted as a solid investment stock, and a partnership with Delta Air Lines that would give customers travelling in New York and Los Angeles the opportunity to use the flying taxis to get to and from airports is sure to garner headlines.
From their eternal resting places on a hillside in Dayton, the original aviators, the Wright brothers, must surely be proud.
Getting%20there
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams
Penguin Randomhouse
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The%20pillars%20of%20the%20Dubai%20Metaverse%20Strategy
%3Cp%3EEncourage%20innovation%20in%20the%20metaverse%20field%20and%20boost%20economic%20contribution%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDevelop%20outstanding%20talents%20through%20education%20and%20training%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDevelop%20applications%20and%20the%20way%20they%20are%20used%20in%20Dubai's%20government%20institutions%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAdopt%2C%20expand%20and%20promote%20secure%20platforms%20globally%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDevelop%20the%20infrastructure%20and%20regulations%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
