Californian eVTOL manufacturer Joby Aviation appear to be opening their first international outpost in Europe, close to the Bavarian city of Munich. The German business register recorded an address change for 'Joby Germany GmbH' on June 11th to Kapellenstraße 22 in Unterhaching.
The location is home to a large campus of the University of Munich and notably their Institutes of both Flight Systems and Transportation and Spatial Planning which could prove a valuable resource for both recruitment and technological expertise.
The site is no longer an active airfield, but there's evidence of stretches of tarmac runway still being intact. Previously known as Neubiberg Air Base the site served as a base for both the United States and German Air Forces but today is primarily used as a site for scientific vehicle testing.
It's also noteworthy that the office is only around 30km from one of the company's biggest global competitors in the race to get an electric air taxi to market - home-grown Bavarian eVTOL unicorn Lilium - whose HQ is just to the west at Oberpfaffenhofen Airfield.
Joby currently have two vacancies in Germany advertised on their careers page - for a Manufacturing Engineer and an Administrative Assistant. They suggest the operation is in its very early stages but that a Managing Director may already have been appointed and that the team here is likely to be engaged in the design, sourcing and manufacture of components for their aircraft.
Lilium meanwhile are assembling international teams in London and Zurich which will focus on building out Software Engineering and Corporate Development teams with aircraft development and engineering remaining in Munich. It's expected that both companies will have local production setups in a variety of international locations as they move towards serial production of their aircraft over the coming years.