Joby Aramco Mukamalah EVTOL Fleet: The Bold Deal Powering the World’s Largest Deployment Plans

The phrase “Joby Aramco Mukamalah eVTOL fleet” reflects a Saudi push that ties regulators, distributors, and a major corporate air operator into one story. Joby has signed an agreement to explore the sale of up to 200 aircraft, worth up to $1 billion, with Aloula Aviation, the aviation subsidiary of Saudi Aramco formerly known as Mukamalah Aviation. That single agreement puts a clear ceiling on scale and value, and it connects eVTOL plans directly to Saudi Aramco’s aviation arm. The same reporting frames these Saudi deals as part of broader momentum across the Middle East and Central Asia.

Another Saudi pillar is Abdul Latif Jameel. Joby partnered with Abdul Latif Jameel to explore the establishment of an air taxi network with the optional sale of up to 200 aircraft. Abdul Latif Jameel is also an investor in Joby. A separate report describes an agreement calling for orders of up to 200 of Joby’s four-passenger vehicles. In that coverage, a company vice chairman said Saudi Arabia is transforming toward mobility that is “on-demand, shared, connected, and sustainable,” and the collaboration is positioned as support for that shift.

Regulation and Approval: Why the GACA MOU Matters

Commercial intent is being paired with a regulatory pathway. Joby Aviation and the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced plans for the rapid deployment of Joby’s electric air taxi in the Kingdom. Their memorandum of understanding uses Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification standards as a foundation to create a streamlined approval process for Joby’s aircraft in Saudi Arabia. Joby also says it plans to collaborate on airworthiness standards and provide technical expertise across type design, production, and operations to help inform Saudi regulatory frameworks and support efficient validation of the FAA type certification process.

The Saudi plan is also described as ecosystem-building, not only aircraft introductions. In the GACA announcement, an executive vice president at GACA said the focus includes building the “knowledge and know-how required to sustain” advanced air mobility, plus localizing key elements of manufacturing and developing highly qualified national talent. The same statement connects these ambitions to an “AAM roadmap” derived from the Aviation Programme in the National Transport and Logistics Strategy. In this framing, rapid deployment is meant to sit on top of a forward-looking regulatory framework, rather than occur in isolation.

Saudi Arabia’s eVTOL narrative includes multiple use cases and a broader field of developers. In 2024, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics and GACA backed plans to use eVTOL aircraft to transport pilgrims to holy sites, and also for medical services. Other developers named in coverage include Eve Air Mobility, Volocopter, Lilium, and EHang, each having previously announced collaborative agreements in the country. At the same time, reporting notes attention on Neom in the northwest, while also stating the “smart city” initiative appears to be in the process of being scaled back after widely reported cost overruns.

Put together, the Joby-Aramco connection through Aloula (Mukamalah) and the Abdul Latif Jameel relationship create a structure that can look like a world-leading deployment plan by sheer stated scale. Each relationship references up to 200 aircraft, and the Aloula (Mukamalah) exploration is described as worth up to $1 billion. Meanwhile, Joby’s Saudi commercialization strategy explicitly includes those partnerships, with Abdul Latif Jameel exploring delivery of up to 200 Joby aircraft valued at approximately $1 billion, alongside Aloula Aviation as another key partner. The result is a Saudi roadmap that combines potential large orders with a GACA process built on FAA standards.