ITA Airways and Archer Sign Agreement to Develop Electric Air Taxi Network

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 29, ITA Airways signed an agreement with U.S.-based Archer Aviation to develop an all-electric air taxi network in major Italian cities, using Archer's Midnight eVTOL aircraft, with the goal of connecting airports, city centers and strategic destinations. ITA Airways thus becomes the first European airline to join Archer's global airline partner network.

Under the division of responsibilities set out in the agreement, ITA Airways will be responsible for integrating the new service into its own route network and connecting passengers' end-to-end journeys, while actual operations will be handled by an unnamed specialized partner. ITA Airways said it will evaluate various operating and passenger service options before determining the service model.

The Midnight is a piloted four-seat eVTOL designed for short consecutive flights with zero operational emissions. Archer says the aircraft aims to replace 60 to 90 minutes of ground traffic with 10 to 20 minutes of all-electric flight; for example, the roughly one-hour ground journey from Fiumicino Airport to central Rome could be completed in under 10 minutes. The Midnight recently completed several days of piloted flights in the San Francisco Bay Area, including an approximately 10-minute leg from Oakland to San Francisco's Marina District.

In October 2025, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) launched a strategic collaboration with ITA Airways, Archer and urban aviation infrastructure company UrbanV, and designated Grottaglie Airport in the Province of Taranto as the test platform for technical validation and operational trials, to carry out the key verification required for technical certification and operating permits. At the time of this agreement's signing, the roles of ENAC, the Grottaglie test platform and UrbanV within the cooperation framework remained unchanged.