FutureFlight
Bell Teams With Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation on Air Mobility Project
Japan Airlines and conglomerate Sumitomo are to jointly explore so-called Mobility-as-a-Service concepts.
Executives from Bell, Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation.
Executives from Bell, Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation celebrate the signing of a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in developing air mobility services.

Bell, Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop plans to develop the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service. The agreement, announced on February 11, will focus on developing the infrastructure and regulatory environment to support plans to launch on-demand air mobility services using Bell's new Nexus 4EX eVTOL aircraft.

The announcement makes no mention of Bell's new Japanese partners being directly involved in the development of the all-electric Nexus 4EX aircraft. This design was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January with four tilting ducted fans, a central wing and a conventional vertical tail without a horizontal stabilizer. At the same time, Bell introduced its new AeroOS urban air mobility operations software.