The main owner of low-cost carrier IndiGo, InterGlobe Enterprises, said on Thursday that it has partnered with US-based Archer Aviation Inc. to introduce and run 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.
Electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are designed and developed by Archer Aviation, a business registered on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), for use in urban air transportation networks. The two businesses said in a statement that their goal with this memorandum of understanding is to provide the nation a ground-breaking, economically viable air taxi service that enhances urban mobility and is safe, environmentally friendly, and quiet.
“…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 this congestion issue.“
According to World Bank projections, the urban population will quadruple by 2050, while short road commutes may take up to two hours in many of the major cities worldwide. This indicates that urban congestion is unsustainable.
The parties plan to fund and construct vertiport infrastructure, educate pilots and other staff required for these activities, and operate Archer’s aircraft in collaboration with a limited number of domestic business partners. In addition, the alliance intends to provide funding for the acquisition of up to 200 Archer Midnight aircraft for its operations in India.
“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.
The four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing Archer’s Midnight aircraft is piloted and intended to do quick back-to-back flights with little idle time in between. The business said in a statement that the objective is for a passenger on an InterGlobe-Archer aircraft to be able to fly the 27-kilometer Delhi journey from Connaught Place to Gurugram, which normally takes 60 to 90 minutes by automobile, in around 7 minutes.
According to the statement, the parties also want to explore a number of additional applications for electric aircraft in India, such as freight, logistics, emergency and medical services, private business, and charter services.
