SkyDrive Inc announced today the completion of a demonstration flight of its SkyDrive Model SD-05 eVTOL at the test site inside the Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park, western Japan, designed to simulate a scenic touring flight over the Seto Inland Sea.
The demonstration flight, which was flown without passengers or crew, simulated the future operational flows SkyDrive will use to provide tourist flights once SkyDrive’s aircraft is in service, said the company in a press release. “Alongside the actual flight of the remotely piloted aircraft, the simulation included a run through of a seamless passenger journey conveying passengers arriving by car at the vertiport (takeoff and landing facility) straight to their eVTOL flight.”
To date, SkyDrive has flown its prototype aircraft more than 300 times in various environments, including flight test sites in Toyota City (Aichi Prefecture) and Yamaguchi City (Yamaguchi Prefecture), as well as at the Expo 2025 Osaka venue, Osaka Port, and, most recently, at Tokyo Big Sight in February 2026, said the company.
“Today’s flight simulated a concrete example of how eVTOLs will be integrated into future tourist experiences,” said SkyDrive. “These scenic flights are a key pillar of the commercial eVTOL services we plan for 2028. In our simulation today, passengers arrived by road, demonstrating the seamless, zero-wait time switch from road transport to eVTOL, a model case that showcases the potential of next-generation urban air mobility to drive tourism in various destinations. SkyDrive also looks forward to working with our railway company partners to deliver the same seamless transitions we saw today, showing how both road and rail travel will link smoothly into eVTOL departures.”
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(Image: From left: Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation; Tomohiro Fukuzawa, Founder and CEO of SkyDrive Inc.; Tsugumasa Muraoka, Governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture; Toru Kawano, Vice Chairperson of the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly.)