Joby Aviation Will Invest Up To IDR 7.6 Trillion For Air Taxi Aircraft Factory In Dayton, Ohio

Flying taxi produced by Joby Aviation (photo: Twitter @jobyaviation)

JAKARTA - Electric aircraft maker Joby Aviation announced on Monday 18 that it will invest up to 500 million US dollars (Rp7.6 trillion) to build new facilities in Dayton, Ohio. At that location they will mass-produce air taxis (air taxis).

The 140-hectare location at Dayton International Airport will be the company's first serial production site, in contrast to the prototypes built on their pilot production line in California.

Joby founder JoeBen Bevirt told Reuters the company was "trying hard" to win Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification for their vertical electric take-off and landing (eVTOL) so they could start commercial passenger service by 2025.

"We plan to immediately start recruiting to start production of aircraft components in existing buildings at Dayton," Bevirt said. Construction of new production facilities will begin in 2024, with operations starting in 2025.

Bevirt declined to comment on the initial production rate and how much funding would soon be allocated to build the Dayton facility. "The Ohio state and several political organizations have offered incentives and benefits of up to $325 million to develop the Dayton site," Joby said.

According to Joby, in the future this site will be able to accommodate larger production facilities than the Pentagon, support 2,000 jobs, and produce 500 aircraft per year.

Unlike eVTOL competitors such as Archer Aviation and Beta Technologies, which intend to sell aircraft directly to airlines and logistics companies, Joby's business model is more similar to service-based vehicle rental apps, where customers can order air taxis owned and operated by the company.

Although Joby has been flying in full-sized aircraft since 2017, they revealed their first representative production prototype in June, which could accommodate four passengers and a pilot.

Bevirt said the company was "aggressively increasing the testing team" to carry out the thousands of testing and evaluations needed to obtain FAA certification.