AAM company Wisk Aero has signed a three-party memorandum of understanding with The City of Kaga in Ishikawa, Japan, and Japan Airlines subsidiary JAL Engineering (JALEC). This partnership will establish opportunities for introducing autonomous air travel in Japan.

Building on Wisk's existing partnership with Japan Airlines (JAL) and JALEC, the new scope of the collaboration with Kaga City will focus on several key areas, namely: regulatory and airspace system development; market analysis and development; social acceptance of AAM and autonomous aviation; and supply chain support and manufacturing opportunities.

Kaga City has been designated by the Japanese government as a national strategic special zone. It has also paved the way for mobility initiatives within the city by establishing the Next-Generation Air Mobility Consortium in Japan. These efforts make Kaga City an ideal location for the development, testing and validation of autonomous air mobility.

“We are excited to deepen our commitment to Japan and further our partnership with JAL through this new collaboration with Kaga City,” says Sebastien Vigneron, CEO of Wisk. “Japan is a key market for the introduction of AAM, and Kaga City's forward-thinking approach to future mobility, coupled with its special zone designation, provides an ideal environment for us to explore and demonstrate the benefits of our Gen 6 aircraft. This partnership is a significant step towards building the necessary ecosystem for autonomous flight in Japan.”

“This three-way partnership will play a central role in realising autonomous AAM in Japanese society,” adds Hiroki Haraikawa, vice president of marketing and sales, JALEC. “JALEC, together with Wisk and Kaga City, leverages this opportunity to demonstrate emerging technology and build nationwide trust in the safety of autonomous operations.”

Riku Miyamoto, Mayor of Kaga City, concludes: “As the first step in Wisk's business expansion into Japan, Kaga City will strongly support the establishment of an operations base and support the construction of an AAM operation model in collaboration with JALEC. Kaga City is a local government with a population of approximately 62,000 people, but because the city has been selected as a national strategic special zone, we are able to carry out bold regulatory development in Japan. The advantage of not being a big city like Tokyo or Osaka is that there is a high degree of freedom as a research and development field, and one-stop arrangements are possible.”