NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Get ready to travel from Central Delhi (Connaught Place) to Gurugram in Haryana in just 7 minutes as InterGlobe Enterprises, the promoter group of IndiGo, and US-based Archer Aviation will be launching their all-electric air taxi service in India in 2026. The cost of this 7-minute flight could be Rs 2,000-3,000 per passenger.
Similar services will be launched in Mumbai and Bengaluru to start with. Explaining the trends of the Indian aviation space, with regard to such a concept, a Bengaluru-based aviation expert, on condition of anonymity, said, “This may be a concept in the non-scheduled segment, which includes charter flights, medical aviation, private flights, etc. A shorter-distance electric aircraft may make sense in the long run, but time will explain its feasibility in the Indian scenario.”
Aircraft certification process at advanced stage
IGE and Archer had in November 2023 formed a partnership in which they had planned to finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer’s electric take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – Midnight - for the Indian market.
The 200 planes, each with 12 rotors, will cost around $1 billion. The aircraft can carry four passengers and a pilot. It is fitted with a six-battery pack, which gets fully charged in 30-40 minutes, and a one-minute charge broadly translates to one minute of flight.
Archer Aviation Founder and CEO Adam Goldstein on Friday said discussions are underway with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the certification process for its aircraft is at an advanced stage.
The certification is expected next year and once that is in place, the process will be initiated for the certification by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Archer Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel said they are in discussions with various municipalities for infrastructure and other aspects of the flight operations. Discussions are also under way for the real estate space, required for vertiports or the launchpads and other infrastructure for starting the flight operations.
Backed by Chrysler-parent Stellantis, Boeing and United Airlines, Archer Aviation will be opening its manufacturing facility in the US this year and initially, it will have a capacity to produce up to 650 planes and the same will be enhanced to 2,000 planes.