Innviertler on board

Electric cabs are already getting ready for take-off

United Airlines wants to start using air cabs in 2025 - in New York, for example.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AP, Archer Aviation Inc.)

Thanks to prominent partners such as Stellantis and United Airlines, Archer's electric aircraft will soon be going into series production. FACC is also on board: Urban Air Mobility is of multiple interest to the Innviertel-based company. CEO Robert Machtlinger reveals why this is the case.

With Archer Aviation, a company from California has set out to conquer the skies with electric aircraft: Saudi Arabia is courting a partnership; tests are planned for next year in India, and Stellantis recently pledged up to 400 million US dollars to drive development forward.

"Development is moving in the right direction"
For FACC, the vertical take-off and landing air cabs from Archer are one of several drone projects that the Innviertel-based company is currently driving forward. "The development of urban air mobility is heading in the right direction. Business is picking up," says FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger.

The company is currently processing development orders totaling around 90 million US dollars in this future market, he says. "This is a very interesting story for us because we are developing completely new materials and processes, certifying them and getting them into the air. And we want to use them in the next generation of commercial aircraft, which has been and will continue to be our core business," emphasizes the manager.

"We see a sales potential for us of between 150 and 250 million dollars from 2027, 2028 - due to the associated series production," says FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel, Archer Aviation Inc.)

At Archer, flying is becoming more and more of a reality: an assembly plant is currently being built in the US state of Georgia. "We are developing the fuselage, the wing structures and the interior. We have delivered the first prototypes and are already starting series production," says the FACC CEO.

United Airlines has several projects in the pipeline
Apart from this, Eve's Brazilian project is also about to take off. Interestingly, United Airlines is the operator of both projects. The airline is already working out in which major cities the air cabs will be used.