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InterGlobe Enterprises ties up with US-based Archer for air taxi service
- InterGlobe and Archer plan to pursue a variety of other uses for the electric aircraft in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services
New Delhi: InterGlobe Enterprises, a majority shareholder in low-cost airline IndiGo, on Thursday said it has entered into a partnership with US-based Archer Aviation Inc to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India.
“Over the last two decades, InterGlobe has provided 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,” said Rahul Bhatia, group managing director of InterGlobe.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed company, Archer Aviation designs and develops electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for use in urban air mobility networks. Through this MoU the two companies 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, it added in a statement.
“...India is one of, if not the largest opportunity for eVTOL aircraft utilization 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 Archer’s CEO and founder, Adam Goldstein, “Archer’s all-electric Midnight aircraft is designed to provide a revolutionary transportation solution that can help address these congestion issues.”
Urban congestion is not sustainable with the World Bank projecting that the urban population will double by 2050 with short road commutes taking up to 2 hours in many of the world’s largest cities.
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.
“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, to start with Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru,” added Nikhil Goel, chief commercial officer (COO) of Archer Aviation.
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, the company added in a statement.
The parties also plan to pursue a variety of other uses for the electric aircraft in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services, as well as private company and charter services, it added.
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First Published:9 Nov 2023, 05:00 PM IST
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