An illustrator’s rendering of a flying car being developed by SkyDrive Inc.
20:00 JST, June 15, 2024
SkyDrive Inc., a startup working to develop and produce so-called flying cars, announced Friday that it will stop offering paid rides to passengers during the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025.
The Toyota, Aichi Prefecture-based startup was chosen to offer flying car services at the fair.
Although flying car services are positioned as a standout feature of the expo, two of the four designated operators – SkyDrive and Marubeni Corp. – only carry out demonstration flights without carrying passengers.
The aircraft developed by SkyDrive is 13 meters long in total and can accommodate three people. It flies with 12 rotors and the company planned to operate it commercially during the show.
The company has decided not to obtain an airworthiness certificate – a government certification that indicates that an aircraft’s parts and functions are safe, which is a prerequisite for this type of commercial service – before the fair.
The company determined that in the limited time available it would be difficult to pass the wide range of checks required to obtain the certificate.
Of the four designated operators, including ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co., only SkyDrive develops self-flying cars.
In March, the company announced that it had begun producing bodies for craftsmen.
An official at SkyDrive said: “We continue to work hard on development with the aim of making flights at the fair a reality.”
