Source | Archer Aviation

On May 15, Archer Aviation (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) announced that it ha been selected as the official air taxi provider of the Los Angeles 2028 (LA28) Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. Through this exclusive partnership, the two will look to integrate Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft across the LA28 games in a variety of ways, such as transporting VIPs, fans and stakeholders, while electrifying vertiport takeoff and landing hubs for key venues and providing support for emergency services and security.

Archer and LA28 will introduce the company’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft to Los Angeles, which is expected to host more than 15 million visitors and broadcast to billions of viewers globally over the course of the games. The partnership includes support for Team USA through LA28.

Midnight is Archer’s piloted electric air taxi designed to carry up to four passengers. It uses composite materials to support its infrastructure — from the vehicle’s battery enclosures to its airframe. The eVTOL aircraft is built with redundant, fault-tolerant systems, including 12 total engines and propellers, enabling Archer to target certification with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at similar levels of safety as commercial airliners. Midnight is made at Archer’s manufacturing facilities in San Jose, California, and Covington, Georgia.

Whether a Los Angeles resident, or a visitor, Archer’s goal is for passengers to be able to go to a vertiport takeoff and landing hub near a key venue and then fly 10-20 minutes in Midnight to their destination of choice within Archer’s LA network. Archer’s planned network in LA includes vertiports at key venues that are central to the LA28 games, including the stadium in Inglewood and the LA Memorial Coliseum. Additionally, the network is planned to include critical visitor hubs, including LA International Airport, Hollywood, Orange County and Santa Monica.

“Our vision is to fundamentally re-imagine the Olympic and Paralympic Games experience, and this partnership represents an opportunity to deliver something unprecedented,” says LA28 chairperson and president Casey Wasserman.