Archer has completed its in-country eVTOL flight test campaign in the UAE, where its aircraft, Midnight, demonstrated its full flight envelope including vertical takeoff transition and wingborne flight over desert areas under the supervision of the Integrated Transport Centre.

This progress supported Abu Dhabi’s advanced air mobility vision. Archer began receiving payments under its agreement with Abu Dhabi Aviation connected to its Launch Edition programme which aimed to position Abu Dhabi as the first region to begin commercial operations with Midnight.

The campaign also aligned with Archer’s broader Launch Edition commercialisation playbook which covered pilot training operational procedures software tools and customer booking infrastructure. Abu Dhabi Aviation acted as the first Launch Edition customer and planned to deploy an initial Midnight fleet as part of the region’s urban air mobility rollout.

The flight tests demonstrated Midnight’s performance and reliability under UAE-specific environmental conditions. The work was carried out with the General Civil Aviation Authority, the Integrated Transport Centre and operations partner Abu Dhabi Aviation.

Archer and its UAE partners continued progressing certification pilot training and maintenance preparation. In October the GCAA visited Archer’s San Jose headquarters for a week-long regulatory working session. Archer’s airline team also worked with Etihad Aviation Training to advance pilot training readiness.

Abu Dhabi’s intention to develop an emirate-wide air taxi network of more than ten vertiport sites continued to complement Archer’s commercial momentum.

“We designed Midnight to be able to handle challenging weather environments like the UAE with its sand and heat and it delivered the results we expected it to across all phases of flight,” says Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO. “Our Launch Edition programme has proven to be an effective framework to help accelerate Archer and our partners' progress toward commercialisation in Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE.”

“The successful completion of these initial flight tests highlights Abu Dhabi's commitment to creating an innovation-friendly environment that will support efforts to successfully implement eVTOL aircraft into the UAE’s airspace,” says Mahmood Al Hameli, group CEO of Abu Dhabi Aviation Group. “Our collaboration with Archer continues to demonstrate how partnerships between global innovators and local industry leaders, via Archer’s Launch Edition programme, can accelerate the arrival of this transformative new mode of transportation in the UAE and beyond.”