The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia has recently announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the U.S.-based Archer Aviation to perform air taxi operations across the Kingdom.
The agreement was also signed at the CoMotion Global Summit 2025 at King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh. The agreement is among the continuous endeavors of the GACA in establishing the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) system in the country.
The milestone in the overall initiative of the Kingdom to enhance next-generation air mobility solutions and make Saudi cities the global future mobility hub. Under the agreement, GACA and Archer will collaborate to improve and streamline the existing regulatory framework on VTOL aircraft operations in the Kingdom.
This involves adherence to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification requirements to maintain operational safety and facilitates the gradual introduction of air taxi services.
Moreover, GACA and Archer will perform a sequence of trial flights and the proof-of-concept activities to prove the regulatory approach, facilitate the development of the infrastructure, and increase the public awareness of the adoption of the service.
The Helicopter Company (THC), which is a Public Investment Fund (PIF), signed an agreement with Archer Aviation and Red Sea Global (RSG) to develop, test, and possibly add Archer flying taxis to the operations of the company as one of the initial implementations of eVTOL aircraft in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, last month.
However, Saudi Arabia made significant steps to build its Advanced Air Mobility infrastructure.
CoMotion GLOBAL 2025 was attended by the signing of several strategic memoranda of understanding, which is one of the key milestones on the way to creating new systems of mobility, as well as the presentation of an international study devoted to the importance of AI in the reorganization of global transport systems.
Besides the agreement between GACA and Archer Aviation, the summit also witnessed the signing of an MoU between inDrive and AI Driver based in Saudi Arabia, which helps to promote the further development of smart-mobility solutions in the area.
The agreement aims at unifying the modern technologies in transport services to enhance a safer and more efficient, and sustainable mobility environment.
The event also witnessed the introduction of the “Mayors in Motion” initiative, which brings together over 100 mayors and municipal leaders across the globe in an effort to promote urban innovation and sustainable development.
The initiative aims at midwifing next-generation smart cities that are better connected and also offers a knowledge exchange platform by creating an international network that will assist in aligning strategies and tackling common problems such as carbon-emission reduction, digital transformation, and mobility systems.
