Electric aircraft fly across Tampa Bay to Tampa International in state air-taxi test
FDOT, Joby Aviation and BETA Technologies ran Friday's demonstration; the airport is weighing where the aircraft could operate.
TAMPA - Two battery-powered electric aircraft flew across Tampa Bay on Friday and landed at Tampa International Airport in a state-run test of so-called air taxis, according to the airport's newsroom.
The Florida Department of Transportation hosted the flight with aircraft makers Joby Aviation and BETA Technologies, working with the Federal Aviation Administration. The demonstration started at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg and roughly retraced the route of the 1914 Tony Jannus flight, which the airport describes as the world's first scheduled commercial airline flight.
FDOT is one of eight partners nationwide in the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, which is testing electric aircraft that could first carry air-taxi passengers, cargo and medical or organ transports. The release did not give a date for passenger service.
We are planning for the future now. (Michael Stephens, CEO, Tampa International Airport)
Stephens said the airport is studying where the aircraft could operate on its airfield and what role Peter O. Knight Airport near downtown and Tampa Executive Airport could play. FDOT has more on its program at suntraxfl.com.
Source: Tampa International Airport newsroom, Advanced Air Mobility test flight release (Oct. 30, 2026)