Archer Aviation’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft is heading to South Korea later this year to participate in the Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Grand Challenge, the California-based aircraft developer announced today.
South Korean taxi and rideshare booking platform Kakao Mobility has selected Archer Aviation as its eVTOL partner for the K-UAM Grand Challenge, which aims to validate the safety and feasibility of urban air mobility operations in South Korea through a series of public flight demonstrations.
As part of its agreement with Archer, Kakao Mobility will purchase up to 50 of Archer’s Midnight aircraft in a deal worth $250 million. The mobility-as-a-service platform provider intends to own and operate the air taxis in Korea, where more than 30 million users have downloaded the Kakao T mobile app.
Originally launched as a taxi-hailing service, Kakao T provides a platform for people to book just about any form of travel, including everything from airplane and train tickets to e-bike rentals and parking spots. Beginning as soon as 2026, Kakao Mobility could offer electric air taxi rides through the same platform. Archer and Kakao Mobility aim to first introduce Midnight eVTOL air taxi services in Seoul, which is one of the world’s most congested cities.
“Our partnership with Archer is a leap forward for urban mobility,” said Kakao Mobility senior v-p Christopher SungWook Chang. “We can’t wait to debut Archer’s Midnight aircraft at the K-UAM Grand Challenge in 2024 as a commitment to transforming the daily commute for millions of Kakao T users. The vision is clear—reduce the hours lost in traffic and elevate everyday travel with an electric air taxi service that features Archer’s Midnight aircraft.”
Kakao Mobility is also funding Archer’s commercialization efforts in South Korea under their partnership for the K-UAM Grand Challenge. According to Archer, Kakao Mobility has committed to paying the manufacturer $7 million this year, with another unspecified installment expected in January 2025.
The K-UAM Grand Challenge is organized by Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT), which launched the initiative in 2021. Seven consortiums representing 46 companies from around the world are participating in the large-scale demonstration.
Kakao Mobility’s other consortium partners include air traffic management specialist LG UPlus and vertiport designer GS Engineering & Construction. Joby Aviation, a rival eVTOL developer from California, is also participating in the challenge under the “Dream Team Consortium” along with its partner SK Telecom.
For the first phase of the K-UAM Grand Challenge, which began in August 2023, participants are demonstrating urban air mobility aircraft over open terrain at a national flight site in Goheung, Jeollanam-do. In the second phase, which is scheduled to begin in July, teams will begin conducting demonstrations over urban areas in preparation for the launch of commercial air taxi services. MOLIT aims to commercialize UAM in Korea by the end of 2025.