Archer and InterGlobe to launch air taxi services in India

Archer and InterGlobe Enterprises have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at launching air taxi services in India.

Part of the deal will see InterGlobe, one of India’s biggest travel and hospitality firms, finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer’s Midnight aircraft. They plan to work with a number of in-country business partners to operate the aircraft, finance and build vertiport infrastructure and train pilots. The goal is cut the journey time from Connaught Place to Gurugram in Delhi from over an hour by car to around seven minutes. 

Rahul Bhatia (pictured left), group MD InterGlobe, said: “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. We are excited at this new opportunity of bringing an effective, futuristic and sustainable transport solution by introducing Archer’s electric aircraft to India.”

In addition to urban air taxi services, Archer and InterGlobe will look at other use cases for the in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services, as well as private charter.

Nikhil Goel (pictured right), chief commercial officer of Archer Aviation, who was in New Delhi to sign the MoU, added: “At Archer, our goal is to make cities greener, smarter, more efficient places to live. We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Rahul and the InterGlobe team to bring our Midnight aircraft to Indian cities and fundamentally transform mobility across the country, with the goal of starting with Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.”

As world population is estimated to double by 2050, the World Bank believes short road commutes could take up to 2 hours in many of the world’s largest cities. Decongestion is the vision upon which Archer was born, according to CEO and founder, Adam Goldstein. 

“India is one of, if not the largest opportunity for eVTOL aircraft utilisation in the world, as it is home to the world’s largest population of over 1.4 billion people and its largest cities face some of the greatest congestion challenges in the world,” said Goldstein. “Archer’s all-electric Midnight aircraft is designed to provide a revolutionary transportation solution that can help address these congestion issues.”