Aerospace

Air taxis chosen for Japan’s 2025 World Expo

24 February 2023
SkyDrive demonstrated its air taxi at CES recently and will build a home base in South Carolina but is also working toward being a vendor at the 2025 World Expo.

The event organizers of the 2025 World Expo being held in Osaka, Japan, revealed the five air taxis that will be used at the event to ferry travelers to the venue.

The companies include:

  • Ana Holdings, which is partnering with Joby Aviation
  • JAL, which is partnering with Volocopter
  • SkyDrive
  • Marubeni, which is partnering with Vertical Aerospace
  • Orix Corp.

Volocopter recently announced it has received certification from the Japanese government to fly its air taxis commercially in the country. Joby has also been working toward the certification for the 2025 Expo.

Japanese aerospace startup SkyDrive demonstrated its air taxi at CES 2022 and earlier this year signed an agreement to bring its aircraft to the U.S. and build a home base in South Carolina.

The main attraction

According to event organizers, the aircraft will be one of the main attractions at the expo as the vehicles will provide access to the event venue at an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

Demonstration flights will start about 184 days prior to the event.

The air taxis, capable of carrying two to five people each, will have eight air taxi routes connecting eight different destinations in Japan and serve as a transportation method to ferry passengers to the event.

The potential locations include the Osaka Bay area, Osaka International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Kobe Airport Awaji Island; direct and scenic routes are also being discussed. Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is said to develop a framework and plan to use the World Expo to show the viability of flying cars this year.

Orix Corp. will be the operator of the takeoff and landing sites at the exposition venue on Yumeshima.

The World Expo 2025 will last from April 13 through Oct. 13 under the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives."

To contact the author of this article, email PBrown@globalspec.com


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