{"id":168837,"date":"2025-02-07T11:09:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T02:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=168837&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2025-02-07T11:09:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T02:09:01","slug":"flying-cars-to-begin-commercial-operations-oita","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/flying-cars-to-begin-commercial-operations-oita\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Cars to Begin Commercial Operations in Oita by 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japanese startup SkyDrive has announced plans to launch commercial flying car operations in Oita Prefecture by 2028. The service will offer a 15-minute route between Beppu and Yufuin, along with sightseeing flights over Beppu Bay. Expansion to routes connecting Oita City and Oita Airport is planned after 2030. This marks the first commercial flying car initiative in Kyushu.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On February 6, SkyDrive signed a partnership agreement with Oita Prefecture and JR Kyushu. Governor Kiichiro Sato expressed hopes that flying cars would contribute to regional development and industrial growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SkyDrive&#8217;s electric aircraft seats three people, including the pilot, with a top speed of 100 km\/h and a range of 15\u201340 km. A demonstration flight is planned for the Osaka Expo in April. The company aims to obtain certification by 2026 for mass production.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The specifics of landing sites, operations, and fares are still under discussion, but pricing is expected to be similar to taxi fares. JR Kyushu is considering integrating takeoff and landing sites at its stations and commercial facilities, with future expansion beyond Oita also under review. <\/span><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/skydrive2020.com\/archives\/61316\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SkyDrive<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-168831\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/fnn_sky-drive_2025_cl.jpg?resize=1400%2C788&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Flying Cars to Begin Commercial Operations in Oita by 2028\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/fnn_sky-drive_2025_cl.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/fnn_sky-drive_2025_cl.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/fnn_sky-drive_2025_cl.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/fnn_sky-drive_2025_cl.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &amp; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free weekly newsletter <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this <\/span><b>form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese startup SkyDrive has announced plans to launch commercial flying car operations in Oita Prefecture by 2028&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":168834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-168837","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-oita-prefecture","news-category-general","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/168837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}