It has been announced that Virgin Atlantic and Joby Aviation have completed the signing of a multi-year agreement with a view in the not too distant future to offer electric air taxis from certain UK airports.

Initially, it is expected that such modes of taxi will be able to transport fare paying passengers from London Heathrow airport and Manchester airport for distances possibly up to 100 miles. It is estimated that to get from London Heathrow airport to the centre of land may only take in the region of 8 minutes – considerably less than in a conventional taxi on the road system. To get from Manchester airport to Leeds could take in the region of a mere 15 minutes – again significantly less than in a conventional road taxi.

Of course, it is possibly not yet known how much such journeys would cost but it is presumably going to be quite a bit more than in a normal taxi taking to the roads.

This announcement is, regrettably, likely to cause some concern amongst many taxi drivers who use the road system with some taxi firms possibly reliant upon airport transfers for a significant amount of their income. Who knows, but it may end up costing some taxi drivers who are employed by taxi firms his or her job at a time in the UK where many people are continuing to struggle financially.

It may be that Virgin Atlantic and Joby Aviation expand their network of airports in the UK offering an electric air taxi service thus potentially putting greater pressure on conventional taxi drivers and their businesses.

Obviously, from the taxi passenger’s point of view, such competition will no doubt be a potentially good thing for obvious reasons.

Needless to say, we will endeavor to keep our readers up to date with developments in respect of electric air taxis here in the UK.

Whilst writing this post, we thought we would just mention that if you are looking for a competitive taxi insurance quote without any obligation whether you are just setting up as a taxi driver or you are an established taxi service whose existing taxi insurance is shortly coming up for renewal, why not get in touch with us at your earliest convenience. We provide access to a panel of reputable insurance companies. We look forward to hearing from you.