UAE Regulator Visits Joby and Archer in California as Air Taxi Certification Nears

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority reviewed aircraft certification and airworthiness requirements with Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation during separate visits to the companies’ facilities in California on October 16. The delegation was led by Aqeel Al Zarooni, the GCAA’s assistant director general for aviation safety affairs, and included senior flight operations and airworthiness staff, with technical workshops covering certification and operational matters for each air taxi program.

The visits reflect how far ahead the UAE is running. Joby signed a definitive agreement with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority in February 2024 giving it exclusive rights to operate air taxis in the emirate for six years, with a commercial launch targeted for 2026. Archer, partnered with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, completed its first UAE test flight at Al Bateen Executive Airport — just days after Joby’s Dubai test flight — with Abu Dhabi as its first planned launch market. Archer’s longest UAE flight covered about 55 miles in 31 minutes. The GCAA has previously said air taxi certification would be completed in the third quarter of 2026, and Joby’s UAE team says passengers will only be carried once all safety requirements are met, including a GCAA Air Operator Certificate.

The UAE is effectively running a parallel certification race with the FAA — and regulators in most other markets are not nearly this engaged. If Dubai or Abu Dhabi carries paying air-taxi passengers in 2026 while the FAA’s type-certification process is still grinding through its final stages, the center of gravity for commercial eVTOL could tilt toward the Gulf first.