Mandatory To Fulfill Safety Certification, Commercial Number Of Flying Taxis For World Expo 2025 May Be Limited

Electric air taxi test Joby Aviation. (Source/Joby Aviation)

JAKARTA - Mass production of "flying cars" to provide air taxi services to visitors to the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan is unlikely to be completed on time for the opening of the event due to delays in safety certification, said four operators involved in the project.

Japan plans air taxi services to be one of the attractions in this international activity. The air taxi used has a capacity of two to five seats, to provide access to the event location held on the island made by Yumeshima in Osaka Bay.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura seeks to use this exhibition as an opportunity to introduce the idea of implementing flying cars to the public.

However, with safety constraints unresolved and only about a year and a half left until the exhibition opens, the number of taxis expected to be ready on time is limited.

In February, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition announced it had selected four groups to operate an air taxi service connecting three exhibition zones, namely Yumeshima, central Osaka and nearby Kansai International Airport.

ANA Holdings Inc., parent company All Nippon Airways Co., in collaboration with Joby Aviation Inc., to operate a vertical take-off and landing aircraft developed by US startups. Meanwhile, Japan-based SkyDrive Inc. also plans to provide the service with the vehicle it is developing.

Meanwhile, Japan Airlines Co., and Marubeni Corp., plan to use an aircraft each developed by German Volocopter GmbH and Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd., respectively from England.

However, because flying cars are classified as aircraft under flight laws in the Land of the Rising Sun, operators must obtain airworthiness certificates for each vehicle, in addition to "type certificates" for each aircraft design, before continuing mass production.

Vertical Aerospace said it plans to obtain a type certificate for its aircraft by 2026, and its partner Marubeni admits that it has given up on commercial operations for the exhibition, aiming to make demonstration flights with only pilots on board.

As for SkyDrive, which also wants to get a type certificate in 2026, is considering a commercially operating aircraft that has obtained an airworthiness certificate. The number of vehicles ready in time for the event will be disclosed as soon as possible," he said.

Meanwhile, ANA and JAL said they plan to launch commercial operations from 2024 to 2025, considering whether to provide their services at the exhibition.

"The process to show that this vehicle can carry passengers is very serious. We are considering how to show off these various aircraft," said an official event organizer, quoted from Kyodo News Oct. 25.

It is known that the World Expo 2025 will take place from April 13 to October 13 with the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives".