Urban Air Mobility in Japan: Next Gen Aviation Mobility Planning Offices will Support AAV, UAM

This article published in collaboration with JUIDA, the Japan UAS Industrial Development Association.

Urban Air Mobility in Japan is ready to take off.  The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan has announced the formation of the “Next Generation Aviation Mobility Planning Office” to handle regulation and issues surrounding aviation mobility.  The Ministry also announced that it would regularize flight beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) before 2023, the target date for introducing passenger drones and urban air mobility in Japan.

The Next Generation Aviation Mobility Planning Office will be staffed by 22 full-time employees of the Minister’s Secretariat.  The Office will research issues of urban air mobility and passenger drone use in order to establish safety standards and appropriate regulations and systems, such as registration systems for unmanned aerial vehicles, appropriate maintenance requirements,  and operations standards.  The Office will collaborate with the Civil Aviation Bureau’s Safety Department’s Aircraft Technology Examination Center (in charge of examinations for next-generation aviation mobility, located in Aichi Prefecture) and the Fukushima Robot Test Field to design systems for next-generation aviation mobility.

The Japanese government has worked to support the drone industry, despite tight restrictions in urban areas.   A public-private partnership in Japan determined that passenger drones, flying cars, and other advanced aviation vehicles (AAV) would be able to begin operations in 2023. (Check out this video to see the Japanese SkyDrive in flight!) The establishment of the Next Generation Aviation Mobility Planning Office provides businesses and government sectors with a central resource responsible for  moving next-generation aviation mobility forward in Japan.

Since 2014, Japan UAS Industrial Development Association (JUIDA) has been facilitating & supporting the development of UAS/UAM in Japan, ranging from education, legislation, tradeshow, business matching up to international collaborations with the public and the private sectors. With more than 13,000 members & 250 accredited drone pilot schools, JUIDA continues to be a key player in Japan and overseas.