The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has granted technical design approval to Skyports for the construction of its first commercial vertiport for eVTOL air taxi flights in Dubai. 

Skyports, which has headquarters in London, is working with California-based Joby Aviation to establish a ground infrastructure network for the launch of commercial operations with the latter's four-passenger eVTOL aircraft in 2026. Last year, the government of Dubai awarded Joby exclusive rights to operate eVTOL air taxi services there for six years. 

That ground infrastructure network will initially consist of four vertiports around Dubai, with two takeoff and landing pads and an aircraft charger at each location. In November, Skyports and Joby broke ground on the first facility near the Dubai International Airport. They will build the other three in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Downtown, and Dubai Marina. 

According to Skyports, the initial facility—dubbed the Dubai International Vertiport (DXV)—is the first vertiport to gain design approval from the UAE since it established vertiport regulations. Skyports and Joby collaborated with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority to come up with the freshly approved design, which features a three-story, 33,000-sq-ft structure adjacent to a parking garage. 

“What we’re undertaking in Dubai—and driving in other regions—completely reimagines the way people travel around cities and between regions. This is all made possible through the development of new regulatory frameworks and guidelines, which ensure a compliant, safe, and scalable approach to aviation infrastructure,” said Skyports CEO Duncan Walker. “Today, with the GCAA, we’ve reached a key milestone for our flagship DXV facility, bringing us ever closer to launching commercial air taxi operations.”

Joby has said it aims to complete type certification of its JAS4-1 aircraft by the end of 2025. The GCAA has committed to endorsing initial FAA approval under existing bilateral agreements.