SkyDrive has been selected to participate in the advanced air mobility (AAM) Smart Mobility Expo project, one of the Future Society Showcase Project exhibitions that will take place at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

SkyDrive was established in July 2018 with the mission of 'taking the lead in the once-in-a-century mobility revolution', and its vision is to create a future where everyone uses eVTOLs as their daily transportation in Japan and across the world. The company succeeded in the first crewed flight test in Japan in 2019 and has further advanced the development of eVTOL aircraft since then. SkyDrive aims to launch an air taxi service during the Expo in 2025.

In order to accelerate the movement towards the social implementation of AAM in the Osaka area, SkyDrive has been a member of the roundtable established by the Osaka Prefectural Government in November 2020 since its inception. SkyDrive has been working with various stakeholders and involved in activities to promote understanding and social acceptance among local residents. In 2021, the company signed a partnership agreement with Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City to further increase the recognition of this project.

When the event organiser, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, called for applications to operate AAM in the Smart Mobility Expo in December 2022, SkyDrive applied and was selected in February 2023.

Details including routes, frequency of flights, number of aircraft in operation and flight fares will be discussed and decided with the Association and related parties.

“SkyDrive has been aiming to fly the SD-05, our eVTOL aircraft currently under development, at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan to give a sense of a future with AAM. We are deeply honoured and excited to be selected as one of the participating companies in the Smart Mobility Expo project. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all stakeholders and employees who have supported SkyDrive in various ways,” says founder and CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa. “We are once again aware of the expectations for AAM at the Expo site and are excited about the challenges ahead. We will continue to steadily promote business and aircraft development so that people around the world can witness and experience the arrival of advanced air mobility. We look forward to the future norm in a decade or two, where everyone can use the sky for daily transportation.”