Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), recently announced the signing of an agreement with Archer Aviation under which the parties will collaborate to accelerate the deployment of electric air taxis across the Kingdom.
Under this collaboration, GACA and Archer plan to establish a regulatory pathway for the introduction and scale-up of eVTOL air taxi operations in the Kingdom. This framework is planned to align with the FAA’s certification ruleset, ensuring global interoperability, safety and operational consistency.
GACA is also planning to model its regulatory pathway around the eVTOL Implementation Pilot Program (eIPP) in the US. This approach will seek to enable early route testing and service introduction in Riyadh, Jeddah and key giga-projects such as Red Sea Global.
Next generation air transport solutions
The agreement forms part of GACA’s ongoing efforts to accelerate the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) ecosystem in line with the AAM Roadmap and the objectives of the aviation program under the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS), representing another step in the Kingdom’s broader program to develop next-generation air transport solutions.
GACA and Archer also plan to undertake a series of proof-of-concept demonstrations and experimental flights to validate regulatory approaches, support infrastructure development, and strengthen public excitement for electric air taxi services.
“By working with global partners such as Archer, we continue to strengthen the regulatory and operational foundations needed to safely integrate eVTOL aircraft into our aviation system. The initiative supports the AAM Roadmap and reinforces the Kingdom’s position as a regional leader in next-generation air transport,” explained Captain Sulaiman Bin Saleh Al-Muhaimedi, Executive Vice President for Aviation Safety and Environmental Sustainability at GACA.
“Saudi Arabia is moving with impressive speed and clarity, and we are honored that GACA has chosen to collaborate with Archer in this effort,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer founder and CEO.
