Paris Air Show: Wisk partners with Japan Airlines to progress advanced air mobility
June 16, 2025
Wisk Aero has announced another partnership on day 1 of Paris Air Show.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Kaga, Ishikawa, Japan, and with Japan Airlines’ JAL Engineering Co (JALEC) to take forward advanced aerial mobility (AAM) in the city.
The partnership is focussed on enabling autonomous air taxi operations in Kaga City, and more widely in Japan.
The new MOU builds on Wisk’s existing partnership with Japan Airlines and its subsidiary JALEC, adding a new testbed city to the mix.
It comes after Wisk announced a partnership with Miami-Dade to advance air taxi evolution in South Florida.
What will Wisk be working on in Kaga City?
Working with the city, Wisk is intending to feed into the development of reguylarory and airspace policy that is fit for the future – not just for Wisk, but for other eVTOL and AAM developments that are on the horizon.
In addition, the company will work with JALEC and the Kaga City to analyse and develop the market for air taxi services, and to educate the public on autonomous aviation and AAM to foster social acceptance of the technology.
Why Kaga City?
The city has been designated by the Japanese government as a national strategic special zone. These sones offer various forms of assistance, including fast-tracked visa processes and support for international entrepreneurs.
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.
“Kaga City will strongly support the establishment of an operations base and support the construction of an AAM operation model in collaboration with JALEC,” says Riku Miyamoto, Mayor of Kaga City. “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.”
