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SILICON VALLEY & ROME--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR) and ITA Airways, member of the Lufthansa Group, Europe's largest airline group, announced today that they have signed an agreement to partner on an all-electric air taxi network in Italy. ITA Airways is Italy's flag carrier, serving more than 70 destinations worldwide as part of the Star Alliance network.

A rendering of Archer’s all-electric Midnight air taxi flying in Italy

Using Archer's Midnight aircraft, the partnership will look to deploy air taxi services in major cities across Italy. Designed for rapid back-to-back flights with zero-operating emissions, the goal of Archer’s Midnight aircraft is to transform urban travel by replacing 60–90 minutes drives with quiet, all-electric flights of 10–20 minutes. For example, an hour-long trip on the ground from Fiumicino Airport to Rome’s city center could take less than 10 minutes with a flight in Midnight.

Midnight recently showcased its ability to operate seamlessly in complex urban airspace, completing several days of piloted flights in the Bay Area which included multiple flights from Oakland to San Francisco’s Marina District in roughly 10 minutes.

"ITA Airways aims to play a pioneering role in advanced air mobility, exploring innovative solutions and collaborations that can strengthen connectivity and deliver tangible benefits for passengers. This agreement with Archer represents an important step in assessing how electric air taxi services could complement our network and enhance connections between airports, city centers and other strategic destinations. As part of this process, we are exploring different solutions to identify the best possible product for our customers. By fostering an integrated, seamless and more sustainable travel experience, we want to help shape the future of mobility in Italy and offer our customers an increasingly efficient journey from origin to destination," Joerg Eberhart, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of ITA Airways said.

Founder and CEO of Archer, Adam Goldstein said: “Italy is one of the most visited countries on Earth: Rome Fiumicino crossed 50 million passengers last year for the first time in its history. Every one of those travelers deserves the option to skip an hour in traffic with a 10-minute, all-electric flight. Italy has the regulatory leadership, the infrastructure, and now the airline partner to make air taxis a reality, and I'm proud to be taking this step with ITA Airways and the Lufthansa Group to bring the future of electric aviation to Europe.”

ITA Airways aims to act as a catalyst for innovation across Italy’s advanced air mobility ecosystem, bringing together relevant expertise and stakeholders and helping create the conditions for new solutions to complement existing transport options and improve airport and urban connectivity. Its contribution will focus on enabling an integrated customer journey and connecting the new service with its network, working alongside the specialized partners responsible for its operation. The partners will explore a range of solutions with the aim of delivering the best possible product for customers.

With today’s agreement, ITA Airways becomes the first European carrier to join Archer's global network of airline partners, extending its commercialization strategy already underway in the U.S., UAE, and beyond.

About ITA Airways:

ITA Airways is the Italian reference carrier. The Company is 59% owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and 41% by Deutsche Lufthansa AG. ITA Airways operates both passenger and cargo air transport services, providing Italy with high-quality connectivity to international destinations, supporting tourism and foreign trade, as well as domestic connectivity within the Country, also leveraging integrated mobility.

Through strong digitization of processes to ensure the best possible experience and personalized services, ITA Airways places customer service at the core of its strategy. This is combined with a commitment to sustainability, which encompasses environmental aspects (such as a young, technologically advanced fleet to reduce environmental impact), social aspects (a strong focus on its employees and the communities in which it operates), and governance aspects (integrating sustainability into internal strategies and processes).

ITA Airways is a member of Star Alliance, the world’s leading global airline alliance, connecting customers to a seamless travel experience across its member airlines worldwide.

About Archer

Archer builds the aircraft and core technologies that will define the next era of flight for aerospace. www.archer.com

Source: Archer Aviation
Text: ArcherIR

Archer Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Archer’s future business plans, expectations, and opportunities. These statements include those regarding design and target specifications of its aircraft and anticipated travel times; timing of Archer’s development, commercialization, and certification of its aircraft, including its ability to obtain required regulatory approvals for its planned operations; development of its planned lines of business and opportunities; buildout of its air taxi network; the scope and development of Archer's planned air taxi ecosystem in Italy and Europe; regulatory developments; and anticipated benefits of collaborations with third parties. In addition, this press release refers to agreements that remain conditional, subject to the future execution of definitive agreements and the satisfaction of certain conditions. Such agreements may not be completed or may contain different terms than those currently contemplated. Forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted are more fully detailed in Archer’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) from time to time, which are available on its investor relations website at investors.archer.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that Archer believes to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. Archer undertakes no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.