Japan Accepts Archer Aviation Air Taxi Type Certificate Application

On August 21, 2026, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism accepted from California-based Archer Aviation an application under the Civil Aeronautics Act for a type certificate for the electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft Midnight (M001), which is under development.

This acceptance was Japan's fifth for an air taxi.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will appropriately advance reviews of aircraft safety and environmental compliance in line with future progress in aircraft development.

In coordination with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the review will examine the aircraft's design, manufacturing processes, and other aspects as part of the type certification process.

A type certificate is a system under which the government reviews and inspects whether an aircraft's design conforms to safety and environmental compliance standards, and it is conducted in parallel with aircraft development.

Midnight (M001) is an aircraft being developed by Archer Aviation, and a full-scale mock-up was displayed on the ground at Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai.

The four applications accepted previously were SkyDrive's SD-05, Joby Aviation's Joby S4, Volocopter's VC2-1, and Vertical Aerospace's VX4. Their acceptance dates were October 29, 2021; October 18, 2022; February 21, 2023; and March 29, 2023, respectively.