Urban Air Mobility 2025: Air-Taxi Pilot Programs, Launch Cities, and Regulatory Hurdles
In April 2025 New York City’s Economic Development Corporation unveiled the Downtown Skyport at the Manhattan heliport, the city’s first eVTOL hub. As of mid-2025, 92 U.S. cities and airports have active plans for eVTOL operations. Abu Dhabi plans to become the world’s first city with a commercial eVTOL service in 2025, with Archer Aviation securing agreements with Abu Dhabi’s government, Etihad Airways, and the UAE’s GCAA to deploy initial city-center to airport routes. Joby Aviation’s S4 is a five-seat piloted eVTOL with six tilt-rotor props, designed for speeds up to 200 mph and a roughly 150-mile range, with prototypes