SkyDrive and JTB to collaborate on eVTOL integration in Japan
December 2, 2024
Ahead of SkyDrive’s participation in the upcoming 2025 World Expo (to be held in Osaka), the company has entered into a partnership with travel provider JTB to “collaborate and explore the commercialisation and social implementation of eVTOL”. These include eVTOL sightseeing missions and what SkyDrive describes as “more efficient tour itineraries,” with the partnership seeking to “invigorate local economies and enhance the vibrancy of communities in collaboration with local enterprises and governments”.
SkyDrive first unveiled the design for its two-seat multicopter SD-05 model in 2022, building on earlier concepts developed since 2014. In 2019, the company performed the first crewed eVTOL flight test in Japan with its initial prototype, the SD-01; something that subsequently evolved to a three-seat craft in 2023 (with 70% parts commonality to its predecessor). Speaking in 2023, SkyDrive CEO and founder Tomohito Fukuzawa explained the company was expecting American and Japanese type certification in 2023, with the craft’s current range of 15km rising to 40km by 2031 as battery technology matures.
The partnership with JTB marks the latest in a series of partnerships for SkyDrive (both domestically and internationally), aimed at furthering the social implementation of eVTOLs before the SD-05’s entry into service. These include partnerships with Osaka Metro and the Kyushu Railways Company inked earlier this year, as well as collaborative ventures in the US.
