Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028, branded as LA28, selected Archer Aviation as the official air taxi provider of the next summer games to be held in Southern California.
- Archer plans to serve the event from a network of vertiports adjacent to Olympic venues including the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and sites in Hollywood, Orange County and Santa Monica, California. Archer also plans to operate from Los Angeles International Airport.
- The agreement includes support for Team USA through LA28.
Dive Insight:
More than 15 million visitors are expected to attend the 2028 Olympics. In August, Archer announced plans to launch an air taxi network in Southern California as soon as 2026, when the FIFA World Cup comes to Los Angeles, which would also serve the Super Bowl in 2027 and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“We want to transform the way people get around Los Angeles and leave a legacy that shapes the future of transportation in America,” said Archer Aviation founder and CEO Adam Goldstein in a statement. Archer previously announced plans for an air mobility network across the San Francisco Bay Area and the New York City region.
Los Angeles will host the Olympics for the third time in 2028, following events in 1932 and 1984. Mayor Karen Bass, who attended last year’s Summer Olympics in Paris, said she wants to field a “no-car Games” in 2028. “Our vision is to fundamentally reimagine the Olympic and Paralympic Games experience,” said LA28 Chairperson and President Casey Wasserman in a statement.
Archer Aviation is awaiting type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration of its Midnight aircraft, designed to carry up to four passengers plus a pilot, which would serve its air taxi networks. The company finished construction of its manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, in December.
