InterGlobe Enterprises (IGE), the promoter of India’s largest airline IndiGo, has tied up with a California-based electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle startup Archer Aviation to launch an electric air taxi service in India by 2026.
What’s the plan and what impact will it have? Here’s an explainer.
What is an eVTOL?
Electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles, more commonly known as air taxis, are aircraft that hover, fly, take off and land vertically. They are said to be quieter and more environment-friendly, generating fewer emissions than existing transport, and are among the latest innovations in transportation technology.
They need infrastructure known as ‘vertiports’ to take off from and land on.
eVTOLs are generally able to carry two to five people, including a pilot.
Archer Aviation’s e-air taxi ‘Midnight’ is capable of carrying five people, including a pilot, for about 160 km.
The publicly-traded San Jose-headquartered startup, founded in 2018, is backed by Boeing, United Airlines and Chrysler’s parent Stellantis, among others.
What do IGE and Archer Aviation plan to do?
IGE managing director Rahul Bhatia and Archer Aviation’s chief commercial officer Nikhil Goel last Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to partner to “provide a revolutionary transportation solution for the country, improving urban mobility with safe, sustainable and low-noise electric air taxi service that is cost-competitive with ground transportation”.
The project will start out with 200 of Archer’s Midnight e-aircraft, set to launch in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
The two companies plan to work with domestic players to operate the aircraft, fund and construct the infrastructure required and train personnel. Apart from an urban air taxi service, use cases related to cargo, logistics, emergency services and private or charter services will be explored.
How will the flying taxi service change things?
The biggest impact is likely to be on travel time. The two companies said the 27-km commute from Delhi’s Connaught Place to Gurgaon, which takes 60-90 minutes by road, will be cut down to a seven-minute air taxi ride.
It may also make the commute experience better given India’s congested and noisy roads. The companies said in a joint statement that the service will “improve mobility in these cities that are facing some of the greatest congestion challenges in the world as India’s population is now over 1.4 billion”.
What are the global developments in urban air mobility?
Archer Aviation, which has a market capitalisation of around USD 1.3 billion, said in October that it would also launch an air taxi service in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Uber’s eVTOL initiative Uber Elevate, which was acquired by startup Joby Aviation, had planned to begin its services in Los Angeles and Dallas in the US and Melbourne in Australia in 2023. Joby plans to roll out commercial air taxis by 2024.
German aircraft firm Volocopter plans to launch air taxis in Paris by 2024. It is investing in the eVTOL ecosystem, with its all-electric VoloCity air taxi, VoloRegion and VoloDrone initiatives.
India’s first air taxi service was inaugurated in 2021 by the Haryana government, under the central government’s RCS-UDAN scheme (Regional Connectivity Scheme-Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik). The aircraft had the capacity to carry a pilot and three passengers.
How big is the flying taxi opportunity?
The global eVTOL market is set to grow at 23% compound annual growth rate to surpass USD 23 billion by 2028, as per Fortune Business Insights.
Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein said, “India is one of, if not the largest, opportunity for eVTOL aircraft utilisation 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.”
The company said its state-of-the-art electric air taxis will provide “a safe and sustainable, low-noise urban mobility solution for India, as it races towards becoming a USD 5 trillion economy”.
He added that the “revolutionary” transportation solution brought by the aircraft Midnight can help address the country’s congestion issues.
