RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 10, 2025--
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), today announced the signing of an agreement with Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) under which the parties will collaborate to accelerate the deployment of electric air taxis across the Kingdom.
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Under this collaboration, GACA and Archer plan to work 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 U.S. This approach will seek to enable early route testing and service introduction in Riyadh, Jeddah and key gigaprojects such as Red Sea Global.
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.
Captain Sulaiman bin Saleh Al-Muhaimedi, Executive Vice President for Aviation Safety and Environmental Sustainability at GACA, stated: “This MoU is an important step in advancing the Kingdom’s vision for Advanced Air Mobility. 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.”
“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. “Aligning this certification work with the FAA and launching early demonstration operations in the Kingdom will help us bring this program to life safely and quickly. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with GACA to make the Kingdom one of the world’s first markets to embrace eVTOL aircraft at scale.”
About the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) and Saudi Aviation Program:
The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) is the national civil aviation regulator for Saudi Arabia. GACA is responsible for delivering world-leading regulatory services that enhance competition, safety, security and sustainability in civil aviation globally. GACA enables Saudi Arabia to lead the world through aviation, providing world-class regulations, ensuring compliance and performance, ensuring competition and growth and protecting passengers.
GACA coordinates the implementation of the Saudi Aviation Program. The Program is transforming the entire Saudi aviation ecosystem to become the number one aviation sector in the Middle East, enabled by Vision 2030 and in line with the Kingdom’s National Transport and Logistics Strategy. The Program is unlocking US$100 billion in private and government investment across the Kingdom’s airports, airlines, and aviation support services. The Program will extend Saudi Arabia’s connectivity to 250 destinations, triple annual passenger traffic, establish two global long-haul connecting hubs, and increase air cargo capacity.
About Archer
Archer is designing and developing the key enabling technologies and aircraft necessary to power the future of aviation. To learn more, visit www.archer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Archer Aviation’s future business plans, expectations, and opportunities. These statements include those regarding its design and target specifications of its aircraft, the pace of design, development, certification, testing, manufacturing and commercialization of its planned eVTOL aircraft, or its ability to do so at all; air taxi network buildout; plans relating to infrastructure and operations in Saudi Arabia; anticipated government incentives; and plans and anticipated benefits of collaborations with third parties. In addition, this press release refers to agreements that remain conditional, subject to the future execution of definitive agreements and the satisfaction of certain conditions. Such agreements may not be completed or may contain different terms than those currently contemplated. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted are more fully detailed in Archer’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, available at www.sec.gov. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that Archer believes to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. Archer undertakes no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.
Source: Archer Aviation
Text: ArcherIR
Archer's Midnight Aircraft
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public for the first time in 11 months early Thursday morning, when she waved to supporters at a hotel in Norway’s capital hours after her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
Machado had been in hiding since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. She had been expected to attend the award ceremony Wednesday in Oslo, where heads of state and her family were among those waiting to see her.
Machado said in an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website that she wouldn’t be able to arrive in time for the ceremony but that many people had “risked their lives” for her to arrive in Oslo.
Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the prize in her place.
“She wants to live in a free Venezuela, and she will never give up on that purpose,” Sosa said. “That is why we all know, and I know, that she will be back in Venezuela very soon.”
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, told the award ceremony that “María Corina Machado has done everything in her power to be able to attend the ceremony here today — a journey in a situation of extreme danger.”
“Although she will not be able to reach this ceremony and today's events, we are profoundly happy to confirm that she is safe, and that she will be with us here in Oslo,” he said to applause.
Machado said in an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website that she wouldn’t be able to arrive in time for the ceremony but that many people had “risked their lives” for her to arrive in Oslo.
“I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,” she said, before indicating that she was about to board a plane.
Machado said that "since this is a prize for all Venezuelans, I believe that it will be received by them. And as soon as I arrive, I will be able to embrace all my family and my children that I’ve have not seen for two years and so many Venezuelans, Norwegians that I know that share our struggle and our fight.”
Prominent Latin American figures attended Wednesday in a signal of solidarity with Machado, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
The 58-year-old Machado’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10. Watne Frydnes said that “Venezuela has evolved into a brutal authoritarian state,” and he described Machado as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in recent Latin American history.”
Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
The lead-up to the election on July 28, 2024, saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner.
González, who sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest, attended Wednesday’s ceremony.
U.N. human rights officials and many independent rights groups have expressed concerns about the situation in Venezuela, and called for Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent.
“More than anything, what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey — that to have democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom,” Sosa said as she delivered the lecture written for the occasion by her mother.
The speech didn't refer to the current tensions between Washington and Caracas, as U.S. President Donald Trump continues a military operation in the Caribbean that has killed Venezuelans in international waters and threatens to strike Venezuela. Machado has consistently endorsed Trump’s strategy toward Venezuela.
Among many “heroes of this journey” honored in the lecture, Sosa mentioned “the leaders around the world who joined us and defended our cause,” but didn't elaborate.
Watne Frydnes said of authoritarian leaders like Maduro that “your power is not permanent. Your violence will not prevail over people who rise and resist."
"Mr. Maduro, accept the election result and step down,” he said.
Five past Nobel Peace Prize laureates were detained or imprisoned at the time of the award, according to the prize's official website, most recently Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in 2023 and Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski in 2022.
The others were Liu Xiaobo of China in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in 1991 and Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in 1935.
Gustavo Tovar-Arroyo, a Venezuelan human rights activist who was forced to flee into exile in 2012, said that Machado's supporters “did the best for her to be here as she deserves. But we knew the risk.”
He added that they are “disappointed that she cannot be in the ceremony, but this is part of what we do when we fight against a dictatorship, a tyranny or a criminal regime. So we are used to it."
Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed to this report.
People wait to see Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado outside the Grand Hotel, in Oslo, Norway, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Jonas Been Henriksen/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado waves at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)
The daughter of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ana Corina Sosa, accepts the award on behalf of her mother, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Hall, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix, Pool via AP)
The daughter of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ana Corina Sosa, accepts the award on behalf of her mother, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo City Hall, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Argentine's President Javier Milei arrives at Oslo City Hall before the award ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix via AP)
The daughter of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ana Corina Sosa, who will accept the award on behalf of her mother, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, arrives for the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix, Pool via AP)
A picture of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony at Oslo City Hall, in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix, Pool via AP)
Ana Corina Sosa, center, daughter of Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Machados, arrives at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, file)
From left: Colombia's former vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez, Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli and Magalli Meda, who are collaborators with the Nobel Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, are seen at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Tuesday Dec. 9, 2025. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
