SkyDrive, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Mitsubishi Estate and Kanematsu to Conduct eVTOL Demo Flight at Tokyo Big Sight

TOYOTA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 4, 2026--

SkyDrive Inc. (“SkyDrive”), a leading eVTOL (*1) aircraft manufacturer based in Japan, is pleased to announce that it will conduct demo flights of its "SKYDRIVE" (SkyDrive Model SD-05) over the five days between February 24 (Tue) and February 28 (Sat), 2026. This initiative is being organized in collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., and Kanematsu Corporation. The flights will take place at a temporary take-off and landing site located in the outdoor parking lot of Tokyo Big Sight’s East Wing. This event will mark SkyDrive's first-ever demo flight in the city of Tokyo.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260203583607/en/

We are also inviting applications from members of the public to help us monitor our passenger experience. While the actual flights will not carry passengers, the chosen applicants will test the boarding process at a dedicated terminal facility equipped with facial recognition technology, helping us to craft a smooth and efficient flow for future eVTOL passengers.

The demo flight and the passenger terminal facility will be open to the public for viewing.

This initiative is part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s “Project for Developing Business Models for eVTOL (Flying Car) Services in Tokyo.” (*2)

Demo Flight Details

The demo flight will operate from a dedicated take-off and landing site in the outdoor temporary parking lot by the East Wing of Tokyo Big Sight, an iconic Tokyo landmark. The planned flight path is a circular route that will either remain within the parking lot premises or extend from the landing site over the sea.

The demo flight will feature the "SKYDRIVE" (SkyDrive Model SD-05), the same model flown by SkyDrive at the Expo 2025 event in Osaka and also at the nearby OsakaKo Vertiport (*3). The aircraft will be operated without an on-board pilot, using a combination of automated control and remote pilot technology to ensure the highest standards of flight safety.

Call for Participants: Passenger Experience Trials

SkyDrive is recruiting members of the public to help us monitor our passenger experience and verify the operational efficiency of our eVTOL passenger terminals.

The objective of this trial is for participants to experience core elements of the passenger journey using advanced technologies such as facial recognition. The feedback gathered will be instrumental in refining our services and operations as we lay the groundwork for the future introduction of safe, fast and convenient urban air mobility.

Public Viewing of the Passenger Terminal

The venue will be open to all members of the public from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM throughout the flight demonstration period. You do not need to join the monitor program to look inside. However, please be aware that viewing of the terminal interior will be restricted during the following time slots:

The operations room for controlling our demo flights will be open for viewing as per the schedule below.

*When inside the operations room, please do not take any photographs or touch any equipment.

Background

SkyDrive is developing eVTOLs with a mission to "lead the once-in-a-century mobility revolution." As we target a launch of commercial operations in 2028, our goal is to make urban air travel a regular feature of city life.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is actively supporting the development of the eVTOL industry in the belief that robust eVTOL infrastructure and reliable eVTOL services will revolutionize the movement of people and goods in Tokyo, enhancing residents’ quality of life. As part of its efforts to accelerate the development of this new generation of aviation technology, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, in FY2025, launched the "eVTOL Implementation Project", which aims to roll out commercial flight operations in urban areas by 2030. The Bureau of Digital Services, a central government organization, also provided support to private enterprises from FY2022 to FY2024 to assist in the development of business models that could help achieve the early commercialization of eVTOL services in the airspace above the capital.

Since 2022, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. and Kanematsu Corporation have been validating business models and conducting technical verifications to assess the feasibility of various passenger eVTOL services. These studies, which are designed to pave the way for the use of air taxis in and around Tokyo, include potential routes between the rooftop of the Shin-Marunouchi Building in central Tokyo and destinations along Tokyo Bay.

In collaboration with UK-based Skyports, a global leader in vertiport infrastructure, SkyDrive aims to set up a vertiport in Tokyo equipped with a Vertiport Automation System (VAS). SkyDrive plans to present demonstration flights of its aircraft at this vertiport in collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Mitsubishi Estate, and Kanematsu. The objective of this flight is to validate ground and flight operations including take-off and landing management and simulation, passenger check-in and security screening, and monitoring of the airspace around the flight route to ensure safety. Identifying the practical challenges of an eVTOL business in Tokyo will help us deliver steady progress toward resolving these issues and launching viable urban air mobility services that serve Japan’s capital.

Roles

Notes:

*1 SkyDrive is developing eVTOLs with the mission of "leading the once-in-a-century mobility revolution," Our goal is to enhance public understanding of the eVTOL industry and drive towards a future in which short-hop eVTOL travel is just another regular way of getting around. At the Expo 2025 Osaka, we conducted a demonstration flight of the "SKYDRIVE" (SkyDrive Model SD-05).

*2 Tokyo Metropolitan Government “Project for Developing Business Models for eVTOL (Flying Car) Services in Tokyo.” https://www.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/information/press/2025/05/2025053014

*3 SkyDrive related press releases
https://en.skydrive2020.com/archives/16094
https://en.skydrive2020.com/archives/16771

About SkyDrive Inc.

SkyDrive is a Japanese eVTOL company aiming “to take the lead in the once-in-a-century mobility revolution”. The company began testing eVTOL prototypes in 2014 prior to official incorporation in 2018. Under its future vision for urban transportation, flying in eVTOLs will become a regular part of city life. In 2019, SkyDrive became the first company to fly a crewed eVTOL in Japan. In 2025, the company successfully showcased the eVTOL "SKYDRIVE", the company’s first eVTOL product, with demonstration flights at the Osaka Expo witnessed by thousands of visitors over a one-month period. SkyDrive began production of “SKYDRIVE” in March 2024 at a plant owned by Suzuki Motor Corporation, SkyDrive's official production partner. SkyDrive has been working with civil aviation authorities in Japan and the US to obtain certification for “SKYDRIVE”, with the aim of launching the aircraft into service in 2028. SkyDrive is headquartered in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, and led by CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa, an engineer and entrepreneur.

For more information, please visit: https://en.skydrive2020.com/

Bird’s eye rendering of the event venue *This image combines photography with rendered elements. The actual layout of the event venue and surroundings may differ.

SkyDrive, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Mitsubishi Estate and Kanematsu to Conduct eVTOL Demo Flight at Tokyo Big Sight

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs.

Trump, at a White House ceremony, said the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as HFCs emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Trump administration to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living ahead of pivotal elections in November.

It is not clear how much or how quickly the loosening of the refrigerant rule might impact grocery prices. Industry groups said the move could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

The Biden-era regulation was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. The EPA action will protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year, he said.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.

“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”

Manufacturers have already retooled product lines and certified models based on the existing timeline, Yurek said. Nearly 90% of residential and light commercial air conditioning systems use substitute refrigerants, rather than HFCs, he said.

The administration's action on refrigerants represents a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs, greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

The 2020 law signed by Trump, known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law accelerated an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals and are widely available.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the top lobbying group for the chemical industry, were among numerous business groups that supported the law and an international deal on pollutants, known as the Kigali Amendment, as victories for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and around the world.

The 2023 rule now being relaxed imposed steep restrictions on HFCs starting in 2026. Zeldin said the rule from the Democratic Biden administration did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry dispute this.

The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the Trump EPA proposal last year, saying the earlier rule “imposed significant and unrealistic compliance timelines.”

Kevin McDaniel, Piggly Wiggly franchise owner, speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kroger CEO Greg Foran speaks speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - A shop owner reaches into a drink display refrigerator at his convenience store in Kent, Wash., Oct. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)