Joby Aviation's first production model electric air taxi takes off

By Dan Catchpole and Pranav Mathur

March 11 (Reuters) - Joby Aviation JOBY.N said on Wednesday it has started flying its first aircraft that will undergo certification testing with federal regulators to receive type inspection authorization (TIA), a major milestone toward an aircraft's certification for commercial operations.

Pilots have begun initial testing of the air taxi at the company's Marina, California-facility, Joby said. The test flights are a precursor to evaluations by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration pilots later this year.

Joby has already worked with regulators for several years to approve the designs, plans and parts used to build the aircraft, which is the company's first production model. Joby test pilots have already logged more than 50,000 miles (80,500 km) in the company's developmental aircraft.

Joby's air taxi is a six-rotor electric aircraft capable of vertically taking off and landing like a helicopter and flying level like an airplane, with room for a pilot and four passengers. The company aims to start flying later this year in Dubai, where two of four landing sites are already under construction, the company announced in February.

It will start limited operations in the U.S. this year as a participant in a White House-backed initiative to accelerate integration of electric air taxis and other small aircraft into the national airspace. Joby is participating in five of the eight pilot programs announced on Monday by the FAA, which is overseeing the initiative.

Joby aims to produce four aircraft a month in 2027, at manufacturing facilities in California and Dayton, Ohio.