Japan Airlines Co. has given up on a plan to conduct demonstration air taxi flights at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, viewed as one of the event’s highlights, a source familiar with the matter said Saturday.
Three other operators, including a team made up of Japanese airline operator ANA Holdings Inc. and U.S. air taxi developer Joby Aviation Inc., are still planning to offer exhibition flights during the international event, which will kick off in less than a month.
All the companies initially considered offering commercial air taxi services to expo visitors, but they switched their plans to conduct demonstration flights amid the time-consuming process to develop the aircraft and obtain safety certification from authorities.
The expo will run from April 13 to Oct. 13 on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, western Japan. Part of the attraction is a next-generation air transportation system, dubbed “flying car,” using technology such as an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
JAL initially planned to solely operate the flights using aircraft developed by Volocopter GmbH from Germany.
But it later teamed up with Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp., launching a joint venture Soracle Corp. in June 2024, and planned to use aircraft manufactured by U.S. startup Archer Aviation Inc., which is still seeking to obtain U.S. safety certification.
The two other companies aiming to conduct showcase flights are Japanese trading firm Marubeni Corp. and SkyDrive Inc., a Japan-based flying car startup.
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AloJapan.com