By Jalaja Ramanunni
We have three years to go before we see Dubai’s flying taxis circling around the sky.
That allows marketers three years to consider the viability of a new marketing strategy: naming rights for the aerial taxi vertiports.
The CEO of Public Transport Agency at the RTA, Ahmed Bahrozyan, announced on a talk show lately that they are looking at multiple sources of revenue including advertising through naming rights.
Bahrozyan stated that the RTA will eventually engage with an infrastructure partner that can help with identifying chances to brand these vertiports, similar to what they did with the naming rights of metro stations in Dubai. In January this year, RTA partnered with Hypermedia to grant metro naming rights to Onpassive.
We believe that the air taxis will work like an air limousine service targeting high spenders in its initial days and will potentially attract tourists who want to see the city of Dubai from the sky.
However, the firm’s goal is not simply to debut a posh service that only a select few will use. Bahrozyan added during the talk show that flying taxis will eventually become an affordable mode of transport that people can use for everyday transport under daily mobility. He expects the prices to go down as the demand for the services increase.
Earlier this month, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced that they approved the design for air taxi stations at the World Government Summit.
According to RTA’s announcement, the first four stations in the network will be located around four thriving communities in Dubai – near Dubai International Airport, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina.
The project aims to ease the mobility of individuals across urban areas in a safe, smooth and sustainable. It is set to be operational by 2026.
