Ten-Day "Air Taxi" Service Test Flights in New York, Route from Manhattan to Kennedy Airport
Joby Aviation Inc. plans to test fly electric air taxis between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Manhattan this week to showcase its quieter, zero-emission aircraft. According to Joby, these demonstration flights will be the first point-to-point electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flights in New York.
The company previously conducted test flights at the downtown Manhattan heliport in 2023. This week, the aircraft will fly along existing helicopter routes operated by Joby's division, Blade Urban Air Mobility, without passengers on board.
Joby's electric air taxi flies over New York City.
CEO JoeBen Bevirt said Joby plans to launch passenger flights as early as the second half of this year in New York, Texas, and Florida. However, the company needs approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to begin commercial operations in the United States and has repeatedly delayed previously set goals.
Bevirt said in an interview that the air taxi is "100 times quieter than a helicopter." He said that unlike helicopters that shake buildings and produce annoying low-frequency roaring, the sound of the Joby aircraft is designed to be "a broadband noise that blends into the background and attenuates faster with distance."
The company will conduct multiple flights over the next 10 days for promotional purposes, with routes from Kennedy Airport to Blade lounges on West 30th Street and East 34th Street in Hudson Yards, as well as the downtown Manhattan heliport.