A strategic initiative to provide an innovative and revolutionary urban alternative solution for the country. This could be a game changer for many of our problems in urban commuting. Imagine having to rush to a hospital in a medical emergency? Not just urban but equally in the hills. And, in so many of our mushrooming hill resorts and urban landscapes?
InterGlobe Enterprises, the patrent company of Indigo Airlines and Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR), a leader in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, have announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the goal of partnering to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and clearances.
Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of InterGlobe, and Nikhil Goel, Chief Commercial Officer of Archer, signed an MOU to form a proposed partnership through which the parties aim to provide a revolutionary transportation solution for the country, improving urban mobility with safe, sustainable, and low-noise electric air taxi service that is cost-competitive with ground transportation.
The parties intend to work with select in-country business partners to operate Archer’s aircraft, finance and build vertiport infrastructure, and train pilots and other personnel needed for these operations. The partnership also plans to finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer’s Midnight aircraft for the India operations. Archer’s Midnight aircraft is a piloted, four-passenger 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-km Delhi trip from Connaught Place to Gurugram, typically taking 60 to 90 minutes by car, in approximately 7 minutes.
In addition to urban air taxi services, the parties plan 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.
Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director of 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.”
Urban congestion is not sustainable with the World Bank projecting that the urban population will more than double by 2050 with short road commutes taking up to 2 hours in many of the world’s largest cities. Archer’s innovative, state-of-the-art electric air taxis are designed to provide a safe and sustainable, low-noise urban mobility solution for India, as it races towards becoming a $5 trillion economy.
Archer is designing and developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for use in urban air mobility networks. Archer’s mission is to unlock the skies, freeing everyone to reimagine how they move and spend time. Archer’s team is based in Santa Clara, CA.
