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Archer plans to deliver its first aircraft to Abu Dhabi Aviation later this year.
Archer Aviation is not waiting around for FAA type certification to begin earning revenues and familiarizing customers with its Midnight electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi.
Alongside its financial results for the 2024 fourth quarter (Q4), Archer shared new details around its “Launch Edition” initiative, the new moniker it has attached to a plan to begin launching aircraft demonstrations and market survey flights ahead of FAA type certification in certain international markets, beginning with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The goal, explains Archer’s founder and CEO Adam Goldstein, is to supply customers in early adopter countries with small numbers of Midnight aircraft to operate over the next couple of years while the company works through the FAA’s type certification process. In addition to aircraft, the company will supply its Launch Edition partners with teams of pilots, technicians and engineers to provide training and support.
In Abu Dhabi, where Archer says it plans to deliver its first Launch Edition aircraft later this year, the market survey flights will be preceded by testing to evaluate the Midnight’s operational suitability in extremely hot weather, as well as sandy and dusty conditions.
The initiative will be supported by a new partnership with local airline and helicopter operator Abu Dhabi Aviation, which is majority owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ.
Goldstein emphasizes that the UAE is just the first country to sign onto the Launch Edition program. Archer is in talks with dozens of other countries about setting up precertification operations that would be “on par” with the level of service in the UAE, he says.
Revenues from the initiative would primarily come from aircraft sales, Goldstein says, adding that he expects Archer to earn somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million over the course of an estimated 18-24 month period.
The ability of Archer to sell aircraft to its Launch Edition partners abroad could amount to an early advantage in terms of revenue generation over its main rival Joby, observes Sergio Cecutta, founder and partner of SMG Consulting. “This will advantage Archer for the next two years,” he says.
Archer has said it plans to build 10 aircraft in 2025. Of those, seven will be earmarked for the Launch Edition program, while three will be used in the company’s FAA type certification campaign. The aircraft will be manufactured at Archer’s recently completed, 400,000-ft.2 manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia.
“We have found a way to monetize our aircraft even ahead of FAA certification,” Goldstein tells Aviation Week. “That means we have less of a sole dependence on waiting for type cert, because we can still deploy every plane we build, and build out a real business. The FAA cert will come whenever it comes–but in the meantime we’re not going to be waiting around to start standing up our business and generating revenues.”
The new details about the Launch Edition program come as Archer prepares for the first piloted flight of its full-scale Midnight, which Goldstein said “should happen very soon.” The company has moved the aircraft from its low-rate production facility in San Jose, California, to its facility in Salinas, where it is undergoing ground testing. “There is nothing holding us back from flying–we just have to complete the remaining tests,” he says.
That aircraft is not technically considered type-conforming, meaning it cannot be flown for flight credits toward certification. When asked about the company’s timeline, Goldstein declined to predict when they would roll out a fully conforming aircraft. He said there are some industrywide “outstanding rules” that need to get finalized before the company can roll out a fully conforming aircraft, although he says any required changes would likely be “minimal.”
Archer finished Q4 with liquidity of more than $834 million, a figure that rises beyond $1 billion when accounting for the $300 million it raised earlier this month.
The company spent $98 million in the fourth quarter, and $510 million in the full year.
Archer did not break out its financial result for Q4, but it estimates a $537 million net loss in 2024.
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