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Japan: SkyDrive, Osaka Metro “Unveil Plans for Future eVTOL Network in Osaka With Plans for Osaka Diamond Routes”

Sky­Drive and Osa­ka Metro announced this week pro­pos­als for Osa­ka Dia­mond eVTOL Routes at the Osa­ka Round­table, reports a press release. The Round­table is an insti­tu­tion keen to bring Urban Air Mobil­i­ty to one of the busiest cities in Asia. 

These planned routes con­nect four key des­ti­na­tions in Osa­ka: Shin-Osaka/Ume­da, Mori­nomiya, Tennoji/Abeno, and the Osa­ka Bay Area. The release explains, “Mar­ket research has already iden­ti­fied these areas as crit­i­cal hubs for the city’s future mobil­i­ty net­work.” The two com­pa­nies aim to launch ser­vices in the Mori­nomiya area by around 2028, before work­ing to grad­u­al­ly expand oper­a­tions through 2030 and beyond. 

Osa­ka Metro (OM) oper­ates eight sub­way lines and the New Tram, an auto­mat­ed, dri­ver­less tram sys­tem. Each day, approx­i­mate­ly 2.4 mil­lion pas­sen­gers trav­el on the Osa­ka Metro rapid tran­sit net­work. 

The com­pa­ny is also advanc­ing an urban Mobil­i­ty-as-a-Ser­vice (MaaS) ini­tia­tive called ‘e‑METRO,’ which inte­grates mul­ti­ple modes of trans­porta­tion includ­ing sub­ways, bus­es, and taxis, to make Osa­ka a more con­ve­nient and con­nect­ed city.

In August, the two com­pa­nies signed an agree­ment to explore the com­mer­cial­i­sa­tion of eVTOL ser­vices in Osa­ka after the Osa­ka World Expo 2025. OM has estab­lished an ‘eVTOL Pro­mo­tion Office’ under the direct super­vi­sion of its Pres­i­dent, Hidea­ki Kawai, in Octo­ber. 

The release con­tin­ues, “The two com­pa­nies have worked togeth­er to assess mar­ket demand, poten­tial take­off and land­ing loca­tions, and oth­er fac­tors  affect­ing the com­mer­cial fea­si­bil­i­ty of an eVTOL busi­ness. These efforts cul­mi­nat­ed in today’s unveil­ing of the planned ‘Osa­ka Dia­mond Routes’, which form a core part of the ini­tial con­cept for future eVTOL oper­a­tions.”

It goes on, “The pro­posed areas have been specif­i­cal­ly select­ed to high­light Osaka’s breath­tak­ing cityscapes and offer con­ve­nient access to major tourist attrac­tions. SkyDrive’s eVTOL will trans­form intra-urban jour­neys into excit­ing and mem­o­rable expe­ri­ences, giv­ing pas­sen­gers the oppor­tu­ni­ty to enjoy the city’s stun­ning aer­i­al views while fly­ing in pri­va­cy and com­fort.”

The part­ners will con­tin­ue to col­lab­o­rate with the gov­ern­ment, Osa­ka Pre­fec­ture and the Osa­ka City author­i­ties, as well as oth­er rel­e­vant organ­i­sa­tions and busi­ness part­ners, to bring these com­mer­cial ser­vices to mar­ket. 

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Impor­tant areas of focus include final­is­ing ver­ti­port loca­tions and com­plet­ing fur­ther stud­ies required to estab­lish flight routes. The two com­pa­nies also plan to roll out a phased expan­sion of ser­vices, first into the sur­round­ing sub­urbs, and then to the greater Kan­sai region. 

For more infor­ma­tion

https://en.skydrive2020.com/

https://www.osakametro.co.jp/en

(Images: Sky­Drive)

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