The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced that Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY), a California-based company developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for commercial passenger service, plans to participate in the Emirate’s new Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) cluster.
Centred in Masdar City, the cluster provides state-of-the art facilities and value-add services within an enabling regulatory environment for companies developing advanced technologies across air, land, and sea mobility applications. Joby Aviation, which plans to launch commercial passenger services using its piloted, five seat aircraft in 2025, expects to establish a footprint in the cluster to support the maturation of technology that will enable it to fly its aircraft autonomously in the future.
Badr Al-Olama, Acting Director General of Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), said: “ADIO looks forward to welcoming Joby Aviation to Abu Dhabi’s SAVI cluster, which is attracting innovators from across the globe. Joby Aviation adds further scale and specialisation to the cluster and will be a catalyst for the accelerated development of air mobility applications. As the cluster grows, the positive impact on the broader Abu Dhabi economy will be felt in related industries such as manufacturing, software development, logistics, and testing and certification.”
ADIO will support Joby Aviation by connecting them with relevant partners across the Abu Dhabi ecosystem, including regulators, relevant government departments and potential investors.
"Autonomous flight has the potential to unlock important benefits for our customers over the long term,” said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO, Joby Aviation. “We welcome the opportunity to participate in the SAVI cluster and look forward to collaborating with the team at ADIO as we work towards our mission of delivering fast, quiet and convenient air taxi service in cities around the world.”
Abu Dhabi’s extensive multi-modal cluster is designed to transform the direction of smart and autonomous vehicles across air, land and sea. Companies will have access to academia, sandboxes, R&D labs, testing and certification facilities, large scale workshops, hangars, manufacturing facilities, and global logistics integration.