Air Taxi Company Plans Service in Japan; $500M Sale

A joint venture company of Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation plans to purchase 100 eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles from Archer Aviation to launch an advanced air mobility (AAM) service in Japan.

The Soracle Corporation obtained the right to order 100 Midnight flying vehicles in a deal valued at $500 million.

The goal is to provide electric air taxi flights in cities where ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers, according to the company,

“Japan is widely respected for its forward-thinking approach to transportation and this investment into advanced air mobility is yet another example of that,” said Andrew Cummins, senior director of business development at Archer. “We’re proud to stand with Soracle ahead of this new era of flight. Together, we are committed to bringing an innovative, sustainable and convenient transportation alternative to the country.”

The air taxis could serve Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hokkaido, Setouchi and Okinawa, according to the company.

Archer and Soracle said they plan to work with the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) to gain the needed certifications. Archer already intended to apply for type certificate from JCAB.

Public flight demonstrations are planned for the World Expo in 2025 to build public support for the air taxi service.

Related:Air Taxi Featured, Flown at Toyota Center in Japan

Joby Aviation, the other major air taxi service, is also looking at Japan, having recently conducted exhibition flights with Toyota in Japan, that company’s first flights outside the U.S.

The flights and showcasing of the Joby electric aerial vehicle (EAV) were at the Toyota Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Shizuoka.

Toyota has been investing in Joby since 2019 and sharing knowledge of the Toyota systems for planning, manufacturing methods and tooling design.

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Meanwhile, Archer already has completed 400 test flights, which produced data to evaluate and refine flying vehicle loads, vibrations, performance and handling.

The flights included longer distance flights to gather data, increased daily operations to simulate busy flight days, landings in various wind conditions and hovering to collect data on noise.

The Archer Midnight can carry four passengers, a pilot and carry-on luggage and is aimed at trips of 20 to 50 miles, with 10 minutes of battery charging between flights.

It can travel up to 150 mph and is designed for back-to-back flights. As with other EAVs, the Archer Midnight is a low-altitude flying vehicle.

Related:Flying Taxi Company Plans San Francisco Takeoff-Landing Network

Archer recently closed a $220 million capital investment bringing total funding to more than $1.5B from investors including United Airlines and Stellantis, two of its major backers.

The funding is expected to provide Archer with the ability to access up to an additional $400 million in capital in exchange for equity at future stock prices.

United Airlines made a pre-delivery payment for 100 Archer EAV in 2022.

Archer also is selling 116 of its Midnight flying vehicles to Future Flight Global (FFG) in a deal valued at up to $580 million, bringing the total estimated future sales of Archer EAV to more than $6 billion, according to the company.

Future Flight Global (FFG) was founded by the leadership team at Titan Aviation, which has been operating business jets under multiple air operator certificates worldwide for two decades.

Archer and FFG plan to launch air taxi services in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Archer is planning a Los Angeles air taxi network with takeoff and landing facilities at Los Angeles International Airport, USC, Orange County, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Long Beach and Van Nuys, scheduled to start in 2026.

Archer is on track to complete its manufacturing plant in Georgia before the end of this year.

Related:Air Taxi Company Selling 116 Flying Vehicles for $580M

The 400,000 square foot facility in Covington should be capable of producing 650 Archer Midnight flying vehicles annually.

Archer also has a deal with Southwest Airlines to create an electric air taxi network in California using Archer’s eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle.

The air taxis would fly in California, where Southwest operates from 14 airports across the state.

This deal includes partnering with Southwest employees and unions for operations to provide travelers with a door-to-door journey with the EAV involved in the first and last miles of a trip.

Stellantis started investing in Archer in 2021, a year after it became a strategic partner to the flying taxi company.

Archer has been tapping into the supply chain and manufacturing assets of Stellantis to help in the development of its eVTOLs and the new investment furthers that relationship.

Archer had already announced it was planning an air mobility network connecting five locations across the San Francisco Bay area with takeoff and landing facilities in San Francisco, Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore.

Archer also has partnered with Signature Aviation to provide the eVTOL maker access to key United Airlines hubs at airports including Newark International and Chicago O’Hare.

Signature is the world’s largest network of private aviation terminals and would provide Archer with access to takeoff and landing sites in major metropolitan areas across the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Texas.

The companies plan to leverage their partnerships with Beta Technologies from Burlington, Vermont, to install the Beta rapid recharging systems at the Signature terminals

Archer recently received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin operating EAVs commercially.

That was the second air taxi maker to be certified by the FAA, following Joby, which received its FAA certificate in 2022.

The so-called Part 135 certificate allows Archer to carry United Airlines passengers to and from airports on Archer flying vehicles once Type Certification is received, which could be in 2025. United and Archer plan to conduct commercial operations together.

Archer has been expanding globally, including a deal with Kakao Mobility in Korea for the purchase of up to 50 of the Archer Midnight at a value of $250 million.

Archer featured Midnight for the first time in Saudi Arabia, following a showcasing of the EAV at the DriftX mobility expo in Abu Dhabi.

Archer is in the process of establishing UAM operations across the UAE with the help of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Falcon Aviation and Air Chateau.

The EAV company has received a commitment of hundreds of millions of dollars from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.