Civil Aviation includes Archer Midnight under the Restricted Type Certification Programme

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority has included the Archer Midnight aircraft under the Restricted Type Certificate programme, strengthening the regulatory path for the aircraft to begin service in the UAE.

According to a press release issued by the company today, the restricted type certification program provides Archer Aviation with an approved path to begin limited commercial operations, and also ensures that the Midnight aircraft is developed within a regulatory framework that supports its long-term commercial viability within the UAE.

According to the company, the progress comes after several years of technical cooperation between the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Archer Aviation, including multiple on-site audits conducted by the Authority’s experts at the company’s headquarters and its testing facilities in the United States, in addition to flights of the “Midnight” aircraft in the UAE.

The achievement was supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office as part of its commitment to making Abu Dhabi a global leader in the smart and autonomous vehicle industries sector.

Archer Aviation is the first manufacturer of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) to move to the restricted type certification path with the General Civil Aviation Authority, benefiting from an airworthiness path that is consistent with international aviation frameworks.

Within the framework of this advanced regulatory stage, Archer Aviation is applying to obtain the accreditations of the approved design entity and the accredited production entity from the General Authority of Civil Aviation, which are accreditations that express high confidence in the company’s engineering and safety management systems.

Engineer Aqeel Al Zarouni, Assistant Director General of the Aviation Safety Affairs Sector at the General Civil Aviation Authority, said that the General Civil Aviation Authority is committed to safely integrating innovative aviation technologies into the airspace of the United Arab Emirates.

Through the program, Archer Aviation and the General Civil Aviation Authority have made progress across eight key workstreams to reach commercial readiness, including aircraft certification, operations and maintenance, flight crew training, airspace planning, electric helipads, and security and oversight.

The Midnight aircraft is scheduled to enter service in Abu Dhabi in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Airlines, the local operating partner of Archer Aviation and one of the leading aviation companies in the region.

Mahmoud Al Hameli, CEO of Abu Dhabi Aviation Group, said that the achievement reflects Abu Dhabi Airlines’ confidence in the aviation sector in the UAE, and the readiness of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to adopt innovative solutions, and also reinforces our commitment to supporting the safe and responsible rollout of advanced air mobility systems, which provides new opportunities for interconnection, operational efficiency, and sustainable economic growth throughout the emirate.

For his part, Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer Aviation, said that the United Arab Emirates is considered one of the most pioneering countries in the field of advanced aviation in the world, and the General Civil Aviation Authority has been a supportive and cooperative partner throughout this journey, and the transfer of the “Midnight” aircraft to the restricted type certificate program represents an important step towards the launch of the electric air taxi in the United Arab Emirates.