John Wayne Airport in Orange County, US is set to welcome southern California’s first electric air taxi charger following a definitive agreement between Joby Aviation and Clay Lacy Aviation.
Clay Lacy is developing an all-new US$100 million FBO development at the Orange County airport and the installation of electrical infrastructure to support Joby’s Global Electric Aviation Charging System (GEACS) is in line with this redevelopment which is due to be complete in mid-2025.
Describing the announcement as a key moment on the path to delivering air taxi services in the Greater Los Angeles area, JoBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby said: “We’re taking concrete steps to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to support our future service and we’re grateful to be working with an industry pioneer like Clay Lacy Aviation to lead the way on bringing sustainable aviation to southern California.”
The GEACS charging interface, which is already in use at Joby’s flight test centre in Marina, California and at Edwards Air Force Base, supports the safe and efficient operation of all electric aircraft under development today, including Joby’s emissions-free air taxi. The installation of the charging unit at John Wayne underlines the airport as a node in Joby’s southern Calirfonia air taxi network, which is expected to be one of the first networks to launch in the US.
“The charging technology we have developed is optimised to support our whole industry, from air taxis delivering short range city flights to more conventional electric aircraft flying longer distances,” added Bevirt. “Joby made the specifications for the universal charging interface freely available to the wider industry in November 2023, to help accelerate the transition to clean flight. We’re pleased to see it is being adopted in this key market.”
Joby is already working with Delta Air Lines to deliver seamless airport transfers. The Joby aircraft will be deployed on routes of up to 100 miles, carrying a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200mph. As well as offering no in-flight emissions, it’s noise footprint is radically lower than today’s helicopters.
Scott Cutshall, SVP Strategy and Sustainability at Clay Lacy Aviation added: “Since our founding more than 50 years ago, Clay Lacy has been committed to improving lives for our community, employees and clients; leading the industry on safety and air service while taking action to reduce emissions in both our ground and air operations. We’re excited to be working with Joby to install southern California’s first air taxi charger and we look forward to the greater convenience it will bring to the Orange County community without additional noise or emissions.”
