New Delhi: InterGlobe Enterprises and Archer Aviation have signed an agreement to collaborate on the launch and operation of an all-electric air taxi service in India, subject to regulatory approvals and clearances, as part of a strategic initiative to provide the country with an innovative and revolutionary urban transportation solution.
InterGlobe Enterprises (IndiGo) is an Indian travel conglomerate, and Archer Aviation (Santa Clara) is a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
InterGlobe Group Managing Director Rahul Bhatia and Archer Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel signed an MOU to form a proposed partnership in which the parties aim to provide a revolutionary transportation solution for the country, improving urban mobility with a safe, sustainable, and low-noise electric air taxi service that is cost-competitive with ground transportation.
The parties intend to collaborate with select in-country business partners to operate Archer’s aircraft, finance and construct vertiport infrastructure, and train pilots and other personnel required for these operations. The collaboration also intends to fund the purchase of up to 200 Archer Midnight aircraft for India’s operations.
The Archer Midnight is a four-passenger, piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. The goal is for a passenger on an InterGlobe-Archer flight to be able to fly the 27-kilometer journey from Connaught Place to Gurugram, which typically takes 60 to 90 minutes by car, in about 7 minutes.
The parties intend to pursue a variety of other use cases for the electric aircraft in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services, as well as private company and charter services, in addition to urban air taxi services.
“Over the last two decades, InterGlobe has been involved in providing safe, efficient, and affordable transportation to hundreds of millions of Indians across the country,” said Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of InterGlobe. We are very excited about this new opportunity to bring an efficient, futuristic, and sustainable transportation solution to India by introducing Archer’s electric aircraft.”
“I founded Archer with the goal of assisting in the decongestion of the world’s largest cities.” “India is one of the world’s largest, if not the largest, opportunities for eVTOL aircraft utilisation, as it has the world’s largest population of over 1.4 billion people, and its largest cities face some of the world’s most severe congestion challenges,” said Archer’s CEO and Founder, Adam Goldstein.
Archer’s all-electric Midnight aircraft is intended to provide a game-changing transportation solution that can help alleviate traffic congestion.
“At Archer, our goal is to make cities greener, smarter, and more efficient places to live,” said Nikhil Goel, Chief Commercial Officer of Archer Aviation. We are thrilled to be collaborating with Rahul and the InterGlobe team to bring our Midnight aircraft to Indian cities and fundamentally transform mobility across the country, with a goal of starting with Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.”
With the World Bank projecting that the urban population will more than double by 2050, and short road commutes taking up to 2 hours in many of the world’s largest cities, urban congestion is unsustainable. Archer’s cutting-edge electric air taxis are intended to provide a safe, sustainable, low-noise urban mobility solution for India as it strives to become a $5 trillion economy.
