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California’s Joby to sell eVTOL aircraft to create pioneering ‘air taxi’ service in Kazakh ‘smart city’
California’s Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) has signed a letter of intent to sell up to $250mn worth of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) 'air taxi' aircraft and related services to Kazakhstan's private Alatau Advance Air Group (AAAG), the US company has announced.
Kazakhstan wants to become the first country in Central Asia to adopt large-scale advanced air mobility solutions. Joby said the Central Asian nation’s new Ministry of AI and Digital Development has committed to delivering regulatory and infrastructure support required to establish air taxi services, firstly in the emerging Alatau City.
Alatau City is a 340-square-mile smart city under development in Kazakhstan's southeastern Almaty Region. It is envisioned as a hub for innovation and sustainable technology.
Beyond air mobility, Santa Cruz-headquartered Joby and AAAG plan to cooperate on sourcing key materials such as titanium and rare earth elements (REEs) from Kazakhstan, a report from AviTrader noted. The arrangement could provide critical minerals required for the production of eVTOL aircraft.
Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev said that the introduction of Joby’s eVTOL aircraft would help drive the growth of Alatau City.
He commented: “Kazakhstan is taking a step into the future of innovative transportation. The purchase of electric eVTOL aircraft will mark an important milestone in the development of smart cities and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
“This initiative will contribute to the growth of Alatau City as a unique hub of advanced technologies of the future.”
JoeBen Bevirt, CEO and founder of Joby, said: “We are deploying our proven market-entry playbook in Kazakhstan by partnering with both the government and a strategic regional operator to accelerate our path to commercial operations.
"Kazakhstan is positioning itself to become a key hub for advanced air mobility and the expansion of Joby’s service into the Central Asia region.”
Sergey Khegay, CEO of Alatau Advance Air Group, added: “We envision bringing urban air mobility to life in Kazakhstan, beginning with the newly-developed smart city of Alatau and the metropolitan hub of Almaty.
"Our ambition is to become the region’s first launch customer for eVTOL aircraft, establish a comprehensive testbed and ground infrastructure, and support the Government of Kazakhstan in creating a robust regulatory environment for safe and reliable operations.”
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