Joby Aviation’s electric air taxi arrived at the West 30th Street Heliport in Hudson River Park just before 11:30 a.m. Thursday after completing its first test flight into the West Side from JFK Airport. The electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, known as an eVTOL, made a touch-and-go landing that lasted roughly a minute before lifting off again.
The aircraft then headed back along the Hudson River, ending a brief but closely watched demonstration at the West 30th Street Heliport. The flight showed Joby Aviation’s aircraft moving between one of New York’s busiest airports and a Manhattan heliport in a single test run, a step that puts the company’s air taxi program in public view on the West Side.
The landing took place at the West 30th Street Heliport in Hudson River Park, a location that has long served helicopter traffic on Manhattan’s west side. Joby Aviation described the aircraft as an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, underscoring the company’s push to make short urban flights quieter and cleaner than conventional helicopters.
What made Thursday’s flight matter was not the distance but the setting. A brief landing, a quick departure and a return along the Hudson gave the test a visible milestone: Joby Aviation’s electric air taxi reached Manhattan’s West Side and left under its own power after a stop that lasted only about a minute.
