DUBAI AIRSHOW 2023: Archer Aviation Announces MOU with Air Chateau International for “Planned Purchase” of up to 100 Midnight Aircraft Worth Close to USD500 Million

Archer have had a very suc­cess­ful week at the Dubai Air­show round­ed off with news that the eVTOL com­pa­ny has signed a Mem­o­ran­dum of Under­stand­ing (MOU) with Air Chateau Inter­na­tion­al (ACI) for “a planned pur­chase” of close to 100 Mid­night Air­craft, worth up to USD500 mil­lion, reports a press release.

ACI is one of the lead­ing pri­vate avi­a­tion oper­a­tors in the UAE. The com­pa­ny plans to own and oper­ate Mid­night air­craft in the region. The deal includes a pre-deliv­ery pay­ment of USD1 mil­lion by the end of this year, fol­lowed with USD4 mil­lion addi­tion­al pre-deliv­ery pay­ments at a lat­er date.

The release states, “Air Chateau was the first pri­vate heli­port oper­a­tor com­pa­ny in the UAE to have its heli­port and lounge ter­mi­nal at the land side of Dubai World Cen­tral Al Mak­toum Inter­na­tion­al Air­port, Dubai Heli­park and with mul­ti­ple touch points across the UAE.”

It con­tin­ues, “Air Chateau’s oper­a­tions offer last mile ser­vices tar­get­ed at ultra-high net worth indi­vid­u­als, includ­ing con­nec­tiv­i­ty between air­ports, cities and strate­gic points and key attrac­tions.”

This deal fur­ther strength­ens Archer’s plans to com­mence air taxi oper­a­tions in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 2026. The par­ties also intend to explore oppor­tu­ni­ties to col­lab­o­rate on bring­ing in the infra­struc­ture invest­ment nec­es­sary for these cities to be ready for these planned oper­a­tions.

Archer, Abu Dhabi Invest­ment Office Sign MOU, Plans to Launch Company’s eVTOL Ser­vice Across UAE in 2026

Adam Gold­stein, Archer Founder and CEO, com­ment­ed, “It was an hon­our host­ing Air Chateau’s team at the Dubai Air Show 2023.  They were able to touch, see and feel our air­craft as it head­lined the show and recog­nise that our Mid­night air­craft meets what the cus­tomer demands in the UAE mar­ket.”

Dr. Samir Mohamed, Chair­man and Founder of Air Chateau, added, “Embark­ing on our jour­ney into being an infra­struc­ture provider two years ago for heli­copters, today, we stand at the precipice of real­is­ing our vision for the future of urban air mobil­i­ty with eVTOLs in Dubai and across the UAE. As we unveil this excit­ing chap­ter, we are priv­i­leged to share a col­lec­tive vision. We are very grate­ful for hav­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ty to pave the way for the future of Air Mobil­i­ty in Dubai with Archer.

Archer has also laid out its intent to build an engi­neer­ing Cen­tre of Excel­lence to sup­port the grow­ing advanced air mobil­i­ty indus­try in the UAE and across the Mid­dle East and to col­lab­o­rate with local man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pa­nies and Main­te­nance, Repair, and Over­haul providers in Abu Dhabi to spear­head the pro­duc­tion of eVTOL air­craft.

For more infor­ma­tion

www.archer.com

http://www.airchateau.aero/

(Top image: Archer Avi­a­tion)