Archer deal sees Abu Dhabi as first international service region

Archer and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) have agreed to make Abu Dhabi the eVTOL maker’s first international service region.

The plan is to begin air taxi operations in the region in 2026. As part of the blueprint, ADIO plans to provide Archer with incentives for basing its first international HQ and aircraft factory in Abu Dhabi’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster.

Archer wants to work with Stellantis, as well as local partners in the UAE, to build out its aircraft manufacturing capabilities and a “Center of Excellence” in Abu Dhabi. Today’s signing ceremony was attended by several regional aviation firms, including Falcon Aviation and GAL-AMMROC — Falcon Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to operate its air taxis across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, whilst GAL-AMMROC signed an MoU to provide MRO support for Archer’s aircraft. Archer is also in discussions with a number of other firms over other potential MoUs, which will be announced when it is in the region to showcase Midnight — beginning at the Dubai Air Show in November.

Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority, said: “The GCAA recently visited Archer Aviation’s global headquarters in California to inspect its Midnight aircraft and learn about their  certification progress with the Federal Aviation Administration. Our goal is to approve Archer’s air taxi to fly in the UAE as soon as it is certified by the FAA, and we are very excited to collaborate with them to bring electric air taxis to the country.”

Archer has raised over $1.1bn to date, including investments from Mubadala Capital, United Airlines, Stellantis, and Boeing.

Archer Aviation’s founder and CEO, Adam Goldstein, said: “We are excited to announce this joint collaboration for the United Arab Emirates to become our first international market outside of the United States. Archer plans to partner closely with ADIO and the Department of Economic Development to bring manufacturing and operations for our air taxis to the region. Together, we are positioned to be a driving force in making all-electric air taxis a reality in the skies of the UAE and beyond in the coming years.”

Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, added: “We are excited to be working with Archer to begin establishing a high-volume added facility for the Midnight aircraft in the United States over the last couple of years.  We hope this first production site will be a blueprint for future Archer manufacturing facilities as it expands operations to serve new regions, starting with the Middle East, where we see extraordinary potential for urban air mobility.”