In 2025, the first flying taxis will begin transporting passengers from New York's JFK Airport, with the Manhattan Heliport becoming the world's first electric helipad.
Eva Metis Koutoumanou
Getting from JFK Airport to Manhattan by air taxi will take just 7 minutes!
Mayor Eric Adams announced that the New York City Heliport will become the world's first helipad capable of serving electric helicopters.
"Our vision for the Downtown Manhattan Heliport will create the world's first helipad with infrastructure for electric aircraft and put it at the service of New Yorkers as a hub for sustainable transportation and local connections," he said at the special event held Nov. 12.
Among the first to take advantage of the infrastructure of the electric helipad will be two air taxi companies: Joby Aviation and Volocopter, which carried out pilot flights at the helipad. It was the first public event in the world to showcase multiple electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in a city.
In fact, Joby Aviation recently announced its partnership with Delta Air Lines.
"Moving without noise, without emissions, without the chaos of New York streets and especially in minutes."
That's the promise Joby Aviation is making to investors and future users, which conducted a first test flight of an air taxi at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport.
According to the company, the air taxi will be able to be recharged in about five minutes, as long as it takes passengers to disembark and board new ones. Passengers will book their transfer on a rideshare-like app. The cost is not yet known, but the company assures that it will not be much more expensive than that of a conventional taxi.
The first flight of Joby's air taxi was followed by the flight of the Volocopter 2X of the German Volocopter. With the pilot and two passengers, the airtaxi flew for about five minutes, bowing to the spectators watching.
"He bows down and says thank you," said Christian Bauer, CEO of Volocopter, "showing how easy it really is to maneuver with these aircraft."
New York was the last stop of the company's tour, followed by demonstration visits to Singapore and Las Vegas.
After New York, the next city – the first in Europe – to adopt flying taxis is Paris ahead of the Olympic Games.
