Nov 7 (Reuters) - Archer Aviation ( ACHR ) said on

Thursday a joint venture between Japan Airlines ( JPNRF ) and

Sumitomo Corp ( SSUMF ) had secured the right to place orders for

up to 100 of its electric air-taxis worth $500 million.

If placed, the order from the joint venture, Soracle, would

include pre-delivery payments based on Archer achieving certain

milestones ahead of aircraft delivery, the companies said in a

statement.

A handful of airlines have placed orders for air-taxis, or

electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, betting

on rising demand for urban travel.

However, the industry faces funding, technology,

infrastructure and regulatory hurdles before such aircraft can

carry passengers in cities.

Certification timelines have slipped to the second half of

this decade from the first, as regulations governing air-taxis

are still taking shape in the West.

German air-taxi maker Lilium, which went public in

2021 through a $3.3 billion reverse merger, said earlier this

week it would file for insolvency after running into a cash

crisis.

"I think it reinforces that what we are doing is very hard,"

Archer CEO Adam Goldstein told Reuters in an interview when

asked about the impact of Lilium's insolvency on the industry.

Archer, which is backed by automaker Stellantis ( STLA ),

is developing its air-taxi 'Midnight' that can carry four

passengers and a pilot.

Archer has said the aircraft is optimized for back-to-back

short-distance trips of around 20 miles, with "minimal charging

time" in between.

Soracle said on Thursday it would develop a variety of

flight routes that include places such as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya,

Hokkaido, Setouchi and Okinawa. Operations will begin once

certifications are received from Japanese authorities.

There is no deadline for Soracle to confirm the order, but

the company has put in a "seven-digit" pre-delivery payment,

Goldstein said.

Archer shares are down 47.7% this year.