Archer Aviation has unveiled plans for an air mobility network that will connect five strategic locations across the San Francisco Bay Area, namely South San Francisco, Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore.

The network is anticipated to provide unprecedented connectivity to communities around the region, allowing people to replace one to two-hour drives to cities around the bay with flights that take around 10-20 minutes. To anchor the network, Kilroy Realty, a US landlord and developer with an 18 million square foot operating and development portfolio, recently signed an MoU with Archer identifying Kilroy Oyster Point, a 50 acre waterfront campus in South San Francisco, as a critical hub in Archer's planned San Francisco Bay Area UAM network.

The MoU focuses on exploring opportunities to construct a vertiport at the Kilroy Oyster Point development, an amenity-rich, mixed-use campus in the heart of the Bay Area biotech ecosystem. This will give Archer access to a take off and landing site in South San Francisco that will connect with planned vertiport locations at Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore, where Archer has existing relationships with infrastructure and operations partners.

“We're thrilled to collaborate with Kilroy on developing infrastructure to support Archer's air mobility service and laying the foundation for a robust network of landing sites throughout the Bay Area,” says chief growth and infrastructure officer Bryan Bernhard. I applaud Kilroy's vision as one of the first developers to see our mobility service as a differentiating amenity for their real estate portfolio.”

Kilroy is recognised for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design, and is positioned to become the first developer in the US to bring eVTOL operations to its tenants and their employees. The MoU supports the development of an Archer ‘Sea Portal’, a waterfront mobility hub providing electric ferry service and eVTOL operations for all companies at Kilroy Oyster Point. The Sea Portal will be powered by renewable energy, offering unique air and sea-based transportation options to employees at the campus.

Angela Aman, Kilroy CEO, adds: “We are excited to work with Archer to explore opportunities to add eVTOL service to Kilroy Oyster Point. We believe that this innovative and sustainable service has the potential to provide exceptional convenience and optionality to current and future tenants at the project, further differentiating Kilroy Oyster Point within the South San Francisco market.”

An initial launch location at Kilroy Oyster Point could open as early as the end of 2025, and the two companies are exploring potential expansion into other locations within Kilroy's portfolio.