Private carrier IndiGo’s parent company InterGlobe Enterprises is planning to launch an all-electric air taxi service in India in 2026 through which passengers can zip between Connaught Place in Delhi to Gurugram in Haryana in as little as 7 minutes for around Rs 2,000-3,000.
The same 27-kilometre journey would take passengers 90 minutes at a cost of around Rs 1,500, as per InterGlobe’s partner Archer Aviation.
The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft can carry the pilot in addition to four passengers. They are similar to helicopters, however, less noisy and a safer alternative.
Archer Aviation will supply 200 eVTOL aircraft, news agency PTI reported on Friday. In addition to Delhi, similar services will be launched in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well.
Archer Aviation Founder and CEO Founder & CEO Adam Goldstein told PTI that talks are going on with the US regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the certification process for its aircraft is at an advanced stage.
Once the FAA provides the certificate, the Indian regulator for aviation Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will give its start the certification process.
Goldstein told PTI that the service will commence in India in 2026 and aims to have 200 of its Midnight planes for the operations.
The plane, which will have six battery packs, will get fully charged in 30-40 minutes and one minute charge broadly translates to one minute of flight, its Chief Commercial Officer Nikhil Goel told PTI.
Archer Aviation will enter into a joint venture with InterGlobe Enterprises, with the specific details currently under development. Archer Aviation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with InterGlobe Enterprises last year.
The US firm is currently in talks with different municipalities regarding the infrastructure and operational aspects of flight operations.
Talks are also going on to finalise the real estate space required for vertiports or the launchpads and other infrastructure for starting the flight operations, the PTI report said.
When asked if the company will be looking at manufacturing the planes in India in the future, Goldstein replied in the affirmative.
