Electric air taxis could link Monaco and Nice by 2029

Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is positioning itself as the launchpad for Europe's first commercial electric vertical take-off and landing services, with the Monaco-Nice corridor among the priority routes targeted for launch as early as 2029. The project brings together American manufacturer Joby Aviation, air mobility platform Blade, and Monacair, the Principality's own helicopter operator that has long served the short hop between Monaco and Nice.

For Monaco residents and property owners, the implications are considerable. The Monaco-Nice route, currently served by Monacair's conventional helicopters, takes around seven minutes in the air but involves fossil-fuel operations that face growing regulatory and environmental scrutiny. A certified eVTOL service would replace that with a quieter, zero-emission alternative at broadly comparable journey times.

Joby Aviation's aircraft, which completed thousands of test flights in the United States, is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and has been targeting type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Blade provides the booking and ground infrastructure layer, a model it has already applied to helicopter routes in New York and across the French Riviera. Monacair's role would give the service its Monaco operating base and local regulatory familiarity.

The 2029 timeline remains conditional on EASA certification being granted and ground infrastructure at both ends of the route being ready. Heliport de Monaco, on the eastern edge of the Principality near Fontvieille, is the natural Monaco terminus, though any upgrades required to handle eVTOL operations have not yet been confirmed publicly.