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DUBAI — Over the past decade, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has invested aggressively both in futuristic development projects and growing its domestic aviation industry. While electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft would seem to be the apotheosis of both, the eVTOL sandbox trials planned in the Kingdom next year actually represent a more measured and pragmatic approach to evaluating the viability of these aircraft as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) re-evaluates its investment strategy more broadly.
AJ Baker, chief commercial officer for The Helicopter Company (THC), said these sandbox trials are expected to last “weeks, not months” and will provide an early indication of whether eVTOLs are ready for operations in the Kingdom’s harsh desert environment. The Air Current spoke with Baker at the 2025 Dubai Airshow last week, where rival eVTOL developers Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation both announced partnerships with THC and real estate developer Red Sea Global (RSG) to demonstrate their aircraft in the Kingdom. Joby specified it intends to fly in Saudi Arabia in the first half of 2026.
“It’s more about seeing a physical product do what some of the claims are,” Baker said. “Watching the product fly, seeing how it goes through the process of the recharging, seeing what the environment inside that cabin is going to be like in our conditions — they’re the sorts of things that we need to have a look at and understand. The glossy brochures, they’re a dime a dozen; we’re not interested in the glossy brochures. We’re more interested in the product.”
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