Archer unveils planned Los Angeles eVTOL network
Archer Aviation has announced its intention to launch a Los Angeles eVTOL network, aiming to replace lengthy road journeys with a 10-20 minute trips in its Midnight aircraft, with special focus on upcoming sporting fixtures. Converted vertiports could also serve university campuses, sports facilities and hospital in the future, it adds.
With the Californian-based eVTOL manufacturer anticipating its LA network to be operational “by as early as 2026,” Archer has partnered with the Los Angeles Rams to “collaborate on potential exclusive vertiports at Woodland Hills and at Hollywood Park, the near 300-acre district centered around the 3.1 million square foot SoFi Stadium”.
Vertiports at other “key locations” such as Los Angeles International Airport, Orange County, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Long Beach, Van Nuys and the University of Southern California will also allow people to benefit from a “safter, faster and mode sustainable travel option,” explained Archer CEO Adam Goldstein.
Noting that LA is “known for its horrendous traffic,” he added that “establishing [Archer’s] LA network ahead of the global events that are coming to the region over the next four years is a milestone that will put Midnight on display for the whole world to see”. One such upcoming event – the next iteration of the Summer Olympic Games – will be held in Los Angeles for the third time in 2028.
Away from exclusively sporting-related applications, the University of Southern California will also form part of Archer’s planned LA network, with the partners to develop plans to convert the former’s heliport into eVTOL-accessible vertiports. Archer adds that “USC’s ultimate goal is to offer visitors an easy, quick and sustainable way to get to and from” its facilities in the years to come.
