Japan-based eVTOL manufacturer SkyDrive has appointed Dr Arnaud Coville as chief development officer. Coville is former chief technical officer of Volocopter and an aviation industry veteran with 30 years of experience.

SkyDrive is currently engaged in the development of a compact, electric-powered aircraft named the SkyDrive SD-052. The company reached a key milestone when the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau accepted its application for type certification of the SD-05 in October 2021. SkyDrive intends to use the SD-05 as a commercial passenger aircraft in the Osaka Bay area beginning in 2025.

Coville holds a PhD in automatic control and robotics. Previously, at Airbus, he held various management positions responsible for the development of vehicles, systems and structures in helicopter and large aircraft programmes, and at Volocopter he has been responsible for organising and growing the engineering organisation and leading development projects as CTO.

Arnaud will lead the development team building the SD-05 while CTO Nobuo Kishi focuses more on the type certification process. They will work closely together and aim for entry into service in 2025.

Coville says: "I am proud to join SkyDrive as the company has big potential to play a leading role in the industry. I believe that my international expertise will contribute to growing its engineering team and accelerating the development of eVTOL aircraft. I look forward to working with all the SkyDrive teams to ensure that our first commercial model flying car, the SD-05, is a market success."

CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa adds: "We are thrilled to have Arnaud Coville as our CDO. He has gained remarkable management skills over the course of his career at major enterprises, as well as a startup. I firmly believe that his extensive experiences not only in conventional aircraft development but also in a new type of air mobility will be invaluable to us as we seek to take the lead in the once-in-a-century mobility revolution from Japan."