The development of flying automobiles has reached a critical stage, and trials to demonstrate their viability are now being carried out all over the globe. In the meanwhile, in August 2020, SkyDrive was successful in its attempt to conduct a public test of manned flight by outperforming the Japanese group.
What stage are we now at with regard to the development and commercialization of flying vehicles in Japan, given that the stage for practical application has reached the countdown stage? During our conversation with CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa, we discussed recent developments in global trends, current use cases, and potential future developments.
“The commercialization of flying cars is just around the corner. We are also proceeding with the development toward commercialization in fiscal 2023,” says Tomohiro Fukuzawa of SkyDrive.
Flying cars have three features: (1) Low cost and low noise because they are electric, (2) Easy to drive and capable of self-driving, and (3) Vertical take-off and landing, enabling point-to-point movement and compact infrastructure. Aggregated. By taking advantage of these features, Mr Fukuzawa says, “I want to aim for a world where people can travel in less time, safely, and as they wish, even in areas where infrastructure has not yet been developed.”
Currently, it is said that there are 200 to 300 flying car project candidates in the world. However, only about 10 cases have reached the manned test, and the reality is that only one Japanese company, SkyDrive.
In 2019, the company built a 10,000 m2 development base in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. In August 2020, it succeeded in the first public test of manned flight in Japan. In the future, if it acquires certification based on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Aviation Law and is recognized as being as safe as Airbus and Boeing, it will be possible to carry out manned flights with ordinary passengers.
The service is scheduled to start in 2023. Taking advantage of the compact size of the SkyDrive, Mr Fukuzawa enthusiastically said, “We want to create an aircraft that can take off and land in a space about the size of a convenience store parking lot, and aim for a world where the sky is overwhelmingly accessible.”
However, for the time being, in order to operate in a safe and secure manner, we plan to start with a fairly limited air taxi service that makes a round trip to a fixed section. Specifically, it aims to implement it in the “Tokyo metropolitan area” and the “Gulf area of Osaka” where certain transportation needs can be expected on sea routes that are easy to obtain flight permits.
“I’m thinking of starting in the Osaka Bay Area. This area is home to USJ, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, the Osaka Expo, and Yumeshima, the planned site for an integrated resort (IR). It is one of Osaka’s leading tourist destinations, with tens of millions of tourists visiting, and inbound tourists make up half of the visitors. So our current plan is to use flying cars to make travelling fun.”
