The good news just keeps rolling on for Archer Aviation as the U.S company’s global ambitions eye the UAE and a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) this week (October 16th), to launch a Midnight eVTOL service across the United Arab Emirates in 2026, reports a press release. The collaboration also includes other aviation industry participants, in particular, Falcon Aviation and GAL-AMMROC.
Highlights of MOU include:
- Archer, alongside its manufacturing partner, Stellantis and UAE partnerships, to build an engineering ‘Centre of Excellence’ to back the growing AAM industry in the UAE and across the Middle East.
- To collaborate with local manufacturing companies and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) providers in Abu Dhabi, to spearhead the production of eVTOL aircraft.
- Archer to showcase its Midnight Aircraft at the Dubai Airshow in November (13th-17th).
- Midnight to be displayed the following week at the ‘Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels’ (CAAF) hosted by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), also in Dubai.
Archer’s intention is to make ADIO its initial international launch partner, where the investment office plans to help establish the first comprehensive headquarters and manufacturing facilities in the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) Cluster in Abu Dhabi.
Alongside Adam Goldstein, GCAA Leadership Visiting Archer’s Flight Test Facility at Salinas, California (Credit: Business Wire)
The U.S company will be in discussions with other industry participants whom it plans to announce MOUs with, while attending the Dubai Airshow and the following week’s Conference.
His Excellency Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of the General Civil Aviation Authority, commented, “The GCAA recently visited Archer Aviation’s global headquarters in California to inspect its Midnight aircraft and learn about their certification progress with the Federal Aviation Administration. Our goal is to approve Archer’s air taxi to fly in the UAE as soon as it is certified by the FAA, and we are very excited to collaborate with them to bring electric air taxis to the country.”
His Excellency Badr Al-Olama, Acting Director General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, added, “Bringing electric aviation to the UAE will help unlock congestion with zero emissions and, in turn, bring millions in foreign direct investment and thousands of jobs to the region over the next decade.”
Archer has raised over USD1.1 billion of funding to date, including investments from Mubadala Capital, United Airlines, Stellantis and Boeing.
Midnight (Credit: Archer)
Adam Goldstein, co-Founder and CEO of Archer, enthused, “We are excited to announce this joint collaboration for the United Arab Emirates to become our first international market outside of the United States. Archer plans to partner closely with ADIO and the Department of Economic Development to bring manufacturing and operations for our air taxis to the region.”
Archer also signed MOUs this week with Falcon Aviation who will operate its air taxis across Dubai and Abu Dhabi and GAL-AMMROC, appointed to be the MRO support for Archer’s eVTOL aircraft.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Sultan Bin Khalifa, Falcon Aviation Vice-Chairman, remarked, “Falcon Aviation has built an unparalleled reputation for flying passengers in helicopters across the UAE for nearly two decades. With the Archer agreement, we look forward to continuing to provide world-class passenger transport in all-electric air taxis across Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the next decades to come.”
Archer’s goal is to transform urban travel, replacing 60–90 minute commutes by car with estimated 10–20 minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low noise, and cost-competitive with ground transportation.
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