Lufthansa Group's ITA Airways and Archer Aviation, a producer of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, have partnered on an all-electric air taxi network in Italy, the eVTOL company announced Thursday.
The partnership would use Archer's Midnight aircraft to deploy air taxi services in major cities across the country, according to the company.
One sample of use in Italy would be from Fiumicino Airport to Rome's city center, a trip that can take an hour on the ground but would take less than 10 minutes with a Midnight aircraft, according to Archer.
"This agreement with Archer represents an important step in assessing how electric air taxi services could complement our network and enhance connections between airports, city centers and other strategic destinations," ITA Airways CEO and general manager Joerg Eberhart said in a statement.
ITA Airways is the first European carrier to join Archer's global network of airline partners, which also include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Japan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Korean Air.
Archer recently completed several days of piloted flights in the Bay Area, including flights between Oakland and San Francisco's Marina District in about 10 minutes, according to the company. It also this month unveiled a Texas air taxi network across Houston, Dallas and Austin.