LA Gets First Air Taxi Hub Before Olympics
LA Gets First Air Taxi Hub Before Olympics
The News
Archer Aviation and AEG announced plans Monday to build downtown Los Angeles' first "vertiport" — an electric air taxi landing site — at the L.A. Live entertainment district next to Crypto.com Arena, ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The multiyear partnership makes publicly traded Archer the exclusive air taxi provider for L.A. Live, AEG's four-million-square-foot sports and entertainment complex.
The site would serve Archer's Midnight aircraft, an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle built for short hops across the city.
Timeline
AEG and Archer completed an initial feasibility study covering land use, airspace, power availability and community impact. The next phase — reviewing the operational approach and how passengers would use the facility — is underway.
The two companies unveil the partnership and put a Midnight aircraft in "Team USA" Olympic livery on public display at L.A. Live. The aircraft stays on display through Aug. 25.
The Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archer is the official air taxi provider of LA28 and Team USA.
Reactions
"We see this as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to add a flagship downtown location to our planned Los Angeles air taxi network ahead of the LA28 Games," Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said. "Working with AEG on an iconic project like this vertiport at L.A. Live gives us the opportunity to continue building the infrastructure needed for Southern California to lead in the next era of all-electric flight."
Nick Baker, president and chief operating officer of AEG Global Partnerships, which brokered the deal, said in a statement: "We are thrilled to pursue this endeavor with Archer to enhance the fan experience around the major sports and live-entertainment events we host."
Baker called it "an ambitious project and exactly the kind of forward-thinking collaboration that blends infrastructure and technology in service of our fans, visitors and the broader community around major sports and live-entertainment events hosted at L.A. Live."
What's Next
Exactly where the taxis will land and take off at L.A. Live has not been determined, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The companies are now working through operational plans and the passenger experience.
The vertiport is expected to include electric aviation chargers supplied by BETA as part of Archer's ACES consortium, an effort to standardize charging infrastructure for air taxi operations.
The downtown site is meant to join a wider Los Angeles network Archer has announced: SoFi Stadium, USC, LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport and locations in Santa Monica and Orange County, with the recently acquired Hawthorne Airport as the central operational hub.
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Archer says the Midnight carries four passengers, reaches speeds of up to 150 mph, produces zero operating emissions and is significantly quieter than a conventional helicopter. The company says the aircraft uses redundant systems in an effort to reach safety levels comparable to commercial airliners.
The pitch is traffic. Archer says its planned network is designed to cut cross-city trips to roughly 10 to 20 minutes — journeys that can take an hour or, with traffic, up to two hours by car, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The stakes go beyond Lakers and Kings games. The New York Post reports L.A. Live is expected to host 19 Olympic and Paralympic sports during the 2028 Games; the Hollywood Reporter reports downtown Los Angeles will be a central hub for 18. Either way, the district is set to absorb a large share of the millions of visitors headed to the city.
L.A. Live is also home to the Peacock Theater, The Novo, a Regal multiplex and the Grammy Museum, with the Los Angeles Convention Center around the corner.
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