Flying Taxi Pioneer Joby Sees Crowded U.K. as a Prime Market

(Bloomberg) -- California startup Joby Aviation Inc. has its sights set on the U.K. as a future market for its flying-taxi business.

Britain's investments in sustainability, combined with a dense concentration of large, crowded cities makes it an attractive location for electric vertical takeoff and landing craft, said Joby founder JoeBen Bevirt.

“The U.K. market is really spectacular,” Bevirt said in an interview in London. “When you come here you can really feel the value of what a service like ours could mean for people being able to get around.”

Joby is scouting out potential areas for expansion once the Santa Cruz-based company has launched flights in the U.S. Bevirt, who is also chief executive officer, said he sees the firm's five-seater eVTOL connecting cities like Bristol and Cambridge with London, as well as providing links between U.K. regions.

Joby is targeting a price point of about $3 per passenger mile by 2026, meaning a trip from Cambridge to the capital would cost $120 or so.

While Joby intends to pursue approvals from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration first, it will then seek bilateral agreements with regulators in markets like the U.K.

Bevirt said last month that Joby is joining British aerospace lobby ADS “to help support the successful launch of fast, clean and convenient air taxi services,” and has been working with the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority to establish a path toward type certification for its aircraft.

Britain's exit from the European Union means the regulator is taking an approval role for the first time in decades, and pushing to expand its competence to include fledgling technologies such as flying taxis.

U.K. Competitor

Joby's eVTOL model has a planned range of 150 miles and a top speed of 200 mph, with production of the first aircraft planned for this year and service entry slated for 2024.

In targeting Britain, Joby would face a homegrown competitor in Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace, which is developing a five-seater with the same top speed and a range of 100 miles. It has already taken more than 1,300 orders, opting to sell direct to leasing firms and operators rather than run an Uber-like service as Joby intends.

Bevirt said his attention isn't on rivals but “relentlessly focused on our own execution.”