Archer Aviation has completed a week of demonstration flights of its all-electric Midnight air taxi around the San Francisco Bay, showing how a car journey of more than an hour could become a quiet flight of about ten minutes with zero operating emissions.
The flights, announced by the company on 19 October, mark another step in the race to bring electric air taxis — small aircraft that take off and land vertically — into commercial service in some of the world’s busiest cities.
Flights over the bay
According to flight-tracking data reported by the aviation publication FLYING, Archer’s aircraft, registered N703AX, made three flights over the bay, each lasting about 20 minutes. Archer said the Midnight demonstrated a trip from Oakland International Airport to San Francisco’s Marina District in about 10 minutes — a journey that can routinely take more than an hour by car in Bay Area traffic.
The prototype did not land in the Marina District itself; it took off and landed using the runway at Oakland International Airport. Across the wider demonstration, the aircraft flew more than 200 miles and reached top speeds of 131 miles per hour, visiting seven cities over a three-day period. The week of flying included stops in Oakland, Hayward, Mountain View, San Martin and San Jose, after earlier city-to-city round trips between Salinas, Monterey and Hollister.
The flights were part of Archer’s “No Roads” demonstration tour, following piloted flights for tens of thousands of spectators at the 2026 California International Airshow on 22 September.
The Midnight aircraft
Midnight is an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed for urban air mobility. It has 12 rotors — six for vertical take-off and landing and six that tilt for forward flight — and is built for rapid back-to-back trips, replacing 60- to 90-minute commutes with short all-electric flights.
Archer says the aircraft produces zero operating emissions and flies with low noise. The company applied for formal certification of the aircraft in March 2022 and says it has completed three of the four phases of the process, according to reports.
Coordinating with the airspace above three major airports
One of the central challenges of electric air taxis is fitting them into the airspace of cities served by big international airports. The San Francisco Bay demonstration was planned in close coordination with the US Federal Aviation Administration and state and local partners, and was intended to show that Midnight can operate inside airspace that includes the international airports of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.
“Flying Midnight across multiple cities in Northern California shows we can connect communities with no roads, no traffic, and no emissions in minutes instead of hours,” Archer founder and chief executive Adam Goldstein said in the announcement.
Independent reporting on the flights noted that airspace integration remains a live question. United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby has previously expressed doubts about integrating such flights into the airspace of busy airports, a reminder that technical demonstration and commercial operation are two different milestones.
What comes next
Archer says the Midnight will next head to Los Angeles for further demonstrations, as the company prepares to operate under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Archer has been selected as the official air taxi provider for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and has announced plans for air taxi networks in Miami, ideas for services in New York, and is also pursuing operations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The company lists airline partnerships among its commercial foundations.
Archer is not alone in the Bay Area skies. Earlier this year, rival air taxi company Joby Aviation began its 2026 “Electric Skies Tour” with a series of demonstration flights across the San Francisco Bay toward the Golden Gate Bridge — a sign of how crowded the field for zero-emission urban flight is becoming.
Electric aviation is one of several tracks cutting emissions from travel: Sri Lanka is preparing its first electric air taxi for tourist flights, and sustainable aviation fuel use is expanding on longer routes. But for short city hops, the promise of the eVTOL is simple — skip the highway entirely.
FAKTA: Archer’s Midnight Bay flights
- Aircraft: Midnight, an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi with 12 rotors.
- Route: Oakland International Airport area to San Francisco’s Marina District in about 10 minutes, compared with more than an hour by car.
- Scale: More than 200 miles flown, top speed 131 miles per hour, seven cities visited over three days.
- Emissions: Zero operating emissions; designed for low noise and rapid back-to-back flights.
- Airspace: Flights coordinated with the FAA inside airspace covering San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose international airports.
- Next: Demonstration flights in Los Angeles; Archer is the official air taxi provider for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
