Archer, AEG To Develop eVTOL Vertiport in Los Angeles

Archer Aviation and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) plan to develop a vertiport for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis at L.A. Live, the 27-acre sports and entertainment district in downtown Los Angeles, under an exclusive partnership the companies announced on Monday.

L.A. Live is the first specific downtown site Archer has named, though the company has included downtown Los Angeles in its network plans for years. The site would add a node to the Los Angeles network Archer is assembling around the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, for which the company is the “official air taxi provider” of LA28 and Team USA.

AEG and Archer are unveiling Archer’s Team USA Olympic livery with a public display of the Midnight aircraft at L.A. Live on Monday morning, with the aircraft remaining on public display through Tuesday. The aircraft on display is a full-scale showplane rather than one of the prototypes Archer has been flying in California.

Archer’s planned Los Angeles network would link L.A. Live with Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX), John Wayne Airport (KSNA), SoFi Stadium, the University of Southern California, and Hollywood Burbank Airport (KBUR), with the recently acquired Hawthorne Municipal Airport (KHHR) as its central operational hub.

The L.A. Live vertiport agreement with AEG also names Archer the “exclusive air taxi provider” for the district, which includes the Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles Convention Center, and the Peacock Theater. Archer declined to say who would fund, own, and operate the vertiport, whether it is paying AEG for exclusivity, or whether that exclusivity extends to helicopters or strictly eVTOL competitors.

Archer also has not specified the exact location within the L.A. Live district where the vertiport would be located. Possible candidates include a couple of large parking garages, one of which has a 100,000-sq-ft space called the “Event Deck” located on its rooftop. Archer and other eVTOL developers have long eyed rooftops as future vertiport sites, and Archer has been partners with parking garage operator Reef since 2021.

Midnight is a piloted, all-electric aircraft designed to carry four passengers, with a top cruise speed of 150 mph and a range of up to 100 miles, though Archer has optimized it for back-to-back trips of 20 to 50 miles. Archer says the aircraft would carry passengers across Los Angeles in 10 to 20 minutes, while generating less noise than a helicopter and zero operating emissions. Midnight is not yet certified, and Archer has not flown it through a piloted transition from vertical to forward flight. The company insists it remains on track to complete that milestone later this year.

Archer and AEG said they have completed an initial feasibility study covering land use, airspace, power availability, and community impact, with a second phase addressing operations and guest experience now underway. The site would use Beta Technologies chargers through the America’s Consortium for Electric Skyways, which Archer formed with Beta and Macquarie Capital.