Jakarta’s traffic is the stuff of legend — the kind of gridlock where a five-mile trip can eat two hours. Now an Indonesian operator wants to fly over it. On August 12, Whitesky Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding for 60 electric air taxis, betting that the fastest way across the capital is straight up.
The aircraft is the V2000EM Prosperity, a two-tonne passenger eVTOL built by the Chinese developer AutoFlight. Sixty of them would be one of the larger advanced-air-mobility commitments announced anywhere this year — and a sign that Southeast Asia, not just California or the Gulf, is where the air-taxi race is heating up.
• Deal: MoU for 60 AutoFlight V2000EM Prosperity eVTOLs
• Buyer: Whitesky Aviation (Indonesia) — existing helicopter air-taxi operator
• Signed: August 12, 2026
• First use: premium VIP air-taxi services, later broader mobility
• Aircraft: ~2-tonne lift-and-cruise eVTOL, four passengers, ~250 km design range
• Status: MoU, not a firm order; the V2000EM is still in certification
What was actually signed
An MoU is a statement of intent, not a cheque — worth remembering before anyone counts 60 taxis as delivered. Under the agreement, Whitesky handles the local side: operations, vertiport construction, safety systems and crews. AutoFlight supplies the aircraft and the air-mobility technology. The first services would be premium, VIP-style hops before any mass-market rollout.
Whitesky is not a startup dreaming of flight — it already runs a helicopter air-taxi service in Jakarta under the Helicity brand, so it knows the regulators, the rooftops and the customers. Swapping noisy, thirsty helicopters for quieter electric aircraft is the obvious next step, if the economics and the certification cooperate.
Why Indonesia makes sense
Few countries fit air taxis better on paper. Indonesia is 17,000-plus islands and a capital drowning in traffic, with a fast-growing middle class and a government keen on new transport tech. Short hops over water or gridlock are exactly the missions eVTOLs are built for.
The catch
None of this flies until the V2000EM is certified. AutoFlight’s cargo sibling, the V2000CG CarryAll, has already earned a Chinese production licence, but the passenger version still has to clear certification before it can carry fare-paying travellers. Reported figures for the deal’s value have varied between sources, and the MoU itself put no confirmed price on the table.
Still, the direction of travel is clear. A year ago, air-taxi headlines were almost all American and European. Now the biggest single order of the season points at Jakarta — and the sky above one of the world’s most congested cities.
Sources: AutoFlight press release (Aug 12, 2026); ASDNews; Urban Air Mobility News; VOI.id.
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