Joby Aviation completes first eVTOL flights between JFK and Manhattan

Joby Aviation’s aircraft N545JX made the first point-to-point eVTOL demonstration flights in New York City history, shuttling between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Manhattan heliports in a bid to prove electric air taxis can work inside one of the country’s most congested air corridors.

The flights touched Downtown Skyport and the West 30th Street Heliport, and Joby said the week-long campaign also used the East 34th Street Heliport. The company framed the route as a preview of service that could connect Lower Manhattan and Midtown to JFK in under 10 minutes, a stark contrast to the 60-to-120-minute car trip Joby has long cited for the same journey.

The demonstration did not erase the barriers standing between a test flight and a consumer business. Joby still needs to satisfy regulators on safety certification and routine operations, prove that the aircraft can move through New York’s airspace without disrupting other traffic, and show that its promised low-noise profile is real enough to win over communities that have spent years resisting helicopter traffic. Price remains a central question too: the company is pitching a premium time-saving service, not a mass-market transit option, even as the public stakes include who gets access to faster, cleaner transportation and who remains stuck with the ground-level congestion.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the flights were the latest step in its evaluation of next-generation electric aviation, supported by Tru Weather and monitored by NUAIR to help ensure safe integration in complex airspace. The agency tied the effort to its net-zero carbon emissions goal for 2050 and to its recent selection for the Federal Aviation Administration’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.

Joby also used the flights to spotlight a growing physical foothold in New York. In 2025, the company acquired Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business for up to $125 million, gaining dedicated terminals and lounge infrastructure in New York and other markets. Blade said its passenger division closed on August 29, 2025 and became a wholly owned Joby subsidiary. Blade had carried more than 50,000 passengers in 2024 from 12 urban terminals, including sites at JFK, Newark Liberty Airport, the West Side of Manhattan, the East Side of Manhattan and Wall Street.

Chief product officer Eric Allison said the demonstration showed the system could work in real city conditions and called it a critical proof of concept. Joby said it has logged more than 40,000 miles of test flights across multiple aircraft, and it has said passenger service could begin as soon as the second half of 2026.

New York officials have already been preparing for the shift. In November 2023, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced a plan to transform the Downtown Manhattan Heliport into a sustainable transportation and delivery hub, later selecting Downtown Skyport to operate and upgrade the site for eVTOL aircraft and last-mile freight. Whether that network becomes a public mobility option or remains a high-end novelty will depend on how well the next round of testing resolves the costs, noise and regulatory limits that still define the market.