Korean Air has signed a new exclusive agreement with Archer Aviation for the commercial use of its Midnight electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in South Korea.
Under the agreement, Korean Air plans to purchase up to 100 Midnight aircraft, which will be deployed across multiple commercial use cases.
“This collaboration positions Korea to be a leader in adopting advanced aviation technologies by exclusively leveraging Archer’s leading next-generation technologies,” Korean Air said.
“This partnership aims to accelerate the introduction of differentiated aircraft capabilities in the near term while laying the foundation for the broad adoption of Archer’s aircraft in Korea.”
Archer’s Midnight is a piloted aircraft designed to carry four passengers and to perform rapid back-to-back trips with minimal charge time between flights.
Korean Air believes that Midnight has the potential to replace 60–90-minute commutes by car with 10–20-minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low-noise and cost-competitive with ground transportation.
Archer, which demonstrated the Midnight aircraft at the California Airshow in 2024, has completed multiple performance test flights with the aircraft.
Its longest and highest-altitude piloted flight covered approximately 55 miles in 31 minutes, and flew at an altitude of 10,000 feet.
In 2022, Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced named eVTOL and urban air mobility adoption as a priority for the Korean government.