FutureFlight
Osaka Expands Advanced Air Mobility Work with SkyDrive Partnership
The large Japanese metropolitan area is eager to encourage the use of flying cars and other electric aircraft for applications including air taxi services and disaster relief efforts.
SkyDrive flying car
Hirofumi Yoshimura (left), governor of Japan's Osaka Prefecture, and Osaka city mayor Ichiro Matsui (right) this week signed a new partnership agreement with SkyDrive CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa (center). (Photo: SkyDrive)

The Japanese city of Osaka this week launched a joint project with flying car and drone developer SkyDrive to explore applications for its electric vehicles. Under a new agreement signed by both the prefectural and city governments, officials will cooperate with the Tokyo-based start-up to promote economic revitalization of the large metropolitan area and strengthen resources for functions such as disaster relief and emergency response.

The local authorities have approved plans for SkyDrive to conduct test flights with the SD-03 at an as-yet-unspecified date in the Osaka area. The company will share data from these flight trials with city officials and other stakeholders through a group called the Osaka Roundtable for Social Implementation of the Air Mobility Revolution, which was established in November 2020.