InterGlobe and Archer plan to launch all-electric air taxi service across India in 2026
InterGlobe Enterprises, a travel and hospitality conglomerate in India, and Archer Aviation Inc., an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft company, announced they have entered into 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.
Nikhil Goel, chief commercial officer of Archer, and Rahul Bhatia, group managing director of InterGlobe, will form a ground-breaking alliance to meet the nation’s transport demands. Through the provision of an affordable, safe, and eco-friendly electric air taxi service that can rival ground transportation, the alliance will increase urban mobility.
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.
The four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing Archer’s Midnight aircraft is piloted and intended to conduct quick back-to-back flights with little idle time in between.
The objective is for a passenger on an InterGlobe-Archer flight to be able to complete the 27-kilometer journey from Connaught Place to Gurugram in roughly seven minutes, which is now a 60- to 90-minute drive from Delhi.
The parties intend to explore a range of different use cases for the electric aircraft in India, including freight, logistics, emergency and medical services, private company and charter services, in addition to urban air taxi 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.”
“I founded Archer with the vision to help decongest the world’s largest cities. 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.”
Nikhil Goel, chief commercial officer of Archer Aviation, 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.”
According to World Bank projections, the urban population will more than quadruple by 2050, while short road commutes can take up to two hours in many of the largest cities worldwide. This indicates that urban congestion is unsustainable.
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In order to give India, which is rapidly approaching the $5 trillion mark in GDP, a low-noise, safe, and sustainable urban mobility option, Archer has developed cutting-edge electric air taxis.
