New SkyDrive Test Flights
Japanese eVTOL manufacturer SkyDrive Inc. recently announced the successful completion of a series of demonstration flights for its SD-05 passenger model at the Osaka Expo 2025 between July 31 and August 24th. The demonstration flights, which lasted several minutes, took the SKYDRIVE up and out from the Expo venue’s vertiport and over the ocean in Osaka Bay.
These flights were held in front of a range of visiting VIPs including Hirofumi Yoshimura, the Governor of Osaka Prefecture, Kazunori Tanaka, Chairman of the Diet Members’ Association for the Promotion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (also referred to as the diet member’s Drone Association ), Yoshiro Taguchi, Director-General of the Aviation Network Department, Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, Furuichi Shigeru, Director, Advanced Air Mobility Office, Takeshi Ito, Associate Director General of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Kenichi Fujino, Representative Executive Officer and Vice President of The Kansai Electric Power Company, who developed charging infrastructure for the SD-05.
Designer’s Vision
Takumi Yamamoto, Design Director at SkyDrive, shared the vision behind the SD-05 when the company unveiled a mockup earlier this year, saying, “Our eVTOL design embodies a vision for greater freedom of movement through easy, everyday access to the sky. eVTOLs will not only revolutionize transportation, they will also—by shortening travel within cities and redefining routes across landscapes—change the relationship between urban and natural environments, bringing people closer together. Through this design, we sought to achieve a strong balance between functionality and beauty, striving to create a form that will inspire the public to imagine the skies in years and decades to come. We hope this aircraft will create new possibilities and connections as we enter a new era of smooth and seamless everyday air travel.”
Future Plans
SkyDrive is currently working to achieve type certifications while working together with corporate partners in Japan and overseas towards future commercialization. In Japan, SkyDrive is collaborating with Osaka Metro, operator of the subway system in Japan’s second largest city, with a view to starting commercial operations of the SKYDRIVE in Osaka’s Morinomiya Area in 2028. SkyDrive is also working together with JR Kyushu, a major provider of railway services on the island of Kyushu, southern Japan, with the goal of launching scenic flights over Beppu Bay, as well as airtaxi services between the city of Beppu and the nearby resort of Yufuin around 2028.
September Test Flights
Starting on September 15 and concluding on September 23, SkyDrive will perform demonstration flights of the SKYDRIVE Model SD-05 at the Osakako Vertiport, a specialist eVTOL facility built and operated by Osaka Metro Co., Ltd. The aircraft performing these flights will be the same aircraft flown by SkyDrive at Expo 2025.
More information about the SD-05 and the September test flights is available here.
Ian McNabb is a journalist focusing on drone technology and lifestyle content at Dronelife. He is based between Boston and NH and, when not writing, enjoys hiking and Boston area sports.
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