Joby Aviation (JOBY.US) and Virgin Atlantic to launch air taxi service in the UK

The Zhitong Finance App learned that electric air taxi developer Joby Aviation (JOBY.US) and Virgin Atlantic finalized a partnership on Wednesday to turn the agreement announced in 2025 into a binding multi-year commercial agreement. As of press time, Joby Aviation was up 2.34% in the premarket, after rising 7% previously.

The agreement establishes Virgin Atlantic's status as Joby's exclusive airline partner for air taxi services in the UK. Travellers can book Joby's air taxi flights and long-haul flights through Virgin Atlantic's website and mobile app.

Joby plans to launch service from Virgin Atlantic's hubs in London and Manchester. It is expected that the first routes will include Manchester Airport to Leeds (approximately 15 minutes) and Heathrow Airport to central London (as fast as 8 minutes), and it currently takes more than an hour to drive to these locations.

Under the partnership agreement, Joby will be responsible for aircraft operations, route planning, and obtaining regulatory approvals from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, while Virgin Atlantic will support infrastructure integration and customer acquisition efforts at the two hubs.

Over time, Joby is looking forward to expanding this network to numerous cities and communities across the UK.

The partnership builds on Joby's existing partnership with Delta Air Lines (DAL.US), where Delta holds 49% of Virgin Atlantic's shares. In 2022, Joby and Delta Air Lines announced the establishment of a cross-city partnership to jointly develop transportation services from the community to the airport.