Japan’s SkyDrive has announced the successful completion of a promotional event held together with leading Indonesian helicopter operator Whitesky Aviation, at Whitesky’s Cengkareng Heliport, strategically located next to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta.
“The event, held over two days from June 23 to June 24, confirmed demand for the aircraft from potential customers in the mining and agriculture industries, as well as among government organizations,” according to a SkyDrive press release. “The Jakarta metropolitan area experiences annual economic losses from traffic congestion estimated at approximately 65 trillion rupiah. Both the mining industry (a major industry in various Indonesian regions accounting in total for approximately 10% of regional GDP and Indonesia’s vast agricultural plantations (which exceed 15 million hectares in area are affected by logistics and disaster response delays resulting from underdeveloped infrastructure.
SkyDrive and Whitesky entered a strategic alliance for the launch of eVTOL operations in Indonesia back in August 2025. “As Whitesky runs the Cengkareng Heliport, conveniently located next to the airport, air taxi services between the airport and the city centre formed a natural starting point for discussions on the future feasibility of urban eVTOL routes,” said the press release. “Talks between SkyDrive and Whitesky on alleviating urban traffic congestion were followed by further investigations into the potential role of eVTOL in supporting the mining and agricultural industries that play such an important role in driving the sustainable development of Indonesia’s economy.
Following initial discussions focusing on the usage of eVTOL aircraft for urban air taxi services, SkyDrive and Whitesky are now moving forward with concrete investigations into eVTOL applications:
- Urban air taxi services in and around metropolitan Jakarta – Rapid transit services, which can avoid urban traffic congestion, for passengers travelling between Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and central Jakarta, including the nearby smart city.
- Mining industry applications on the islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sumatra –Services for mining sites that require long car or bus journeys due to poor road access. These services may include shuttle services for engineers and other employees travelling to mining sites, and provision of emergency medical services equivalent to medical helicopter services, as required in response to industrial accidents and natural disasters.
- Applications within large scale palm oil, paper and sugar plantations – Site monitoring and patrol services, as required by the owners and operators of large agricultural plantations. Maximum flight distance limits the effectiveness of drone surveillance of extremely large plantations. eVTOLs can also play a role in rapidly detecting and tackling the forest fires that frequently affect plantations, particularly in the dry season.
For more information
Public-Private Collaboration on eVTOL Commercialization Gathers Pace in Indonesia – SkyDrive Inc.
(Image: The SkyDrive eVTOL mockup was viewed by Mr. Sokhib Al Rokhman, Director of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Transportation – SkyDrive)