Saudi Arabian Partners Sign Up For Joby eVTOL Flight Trials

Saudi Arabian companies The Helicopter Company (THC) and Red Sea Global have agreed to conduct “pre-commercial” evaluation flights with Joby’s four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Announcing the partnership on November 19 at the Dubai Airshow, Joby said flights could start in the country during the first half of 2026.

The agreement is similar to one announced this week by Joby’s rival Archer, with the Saudi companies apparently weighing their options for an air taxi partner. THC has operated commercial rotorcraft flights in Saudi Arabia since 2019 and Red Sea Global is a real estate developer currently working on new tourist properties called The Red Sea and AMAALA.

According to Joby, the planned trial flights will be conducted in a so-called “sandbox” environment, similar to the exercise the U.S. manufacturer completed earlier this year in the neighboring UAE. Last week, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation accepted the type certification standards FAA is applying for Joby’s aircraft and the agency has also given its approval for both sets of operational trials.

Neither of the agreements announced with THC and Red Sea Global commit the companies to buying the respective Archer and Joby aircraft. In June, Joby signed an agreement with Abdul Latif Jameel for that company to be its local distributor in Saudi Arabia with a commitment to buy 200 aircraft that the manufacturer said could be worth around $1 billion.

So far this month, Joby has also announced partnerships and provisional sales agreements in Kazakhstan and Ras Al Khaimah.