There are more solutions than obstacles. Nicolas Zart
SkyDrive is a company I’ve had the pleasure to watch bloom from concept to reality. From the first tethered SD-03 to today’s 03, alias, the SKYDRIVE (SD-05), we went to the Paris Air Show, circa 2023 revealing its intricate dome structure and the announcement of its third seat. This differentiated the SKYDRIVE from its closest competitor then. Volocopter as a thrust-only aircraft with three seats, a pi9lot and two travelers. And today, SkyDrive shows the maturity of its dedicate pragmatic strategy today.
SkyDrive Completes Tokyo eVTOL Demos, Eyes U.S. Market
TOYOTA, Japan / ATLANTA, Georgia — March 3, 2026 — SkyDrive Inc., Japan’s leading electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) manufacturer, has successfully completed a landmark series of public demonstration flights in Tokyo. The company is now turning its attention to North America, with a major U.S. partnership announcement scheduled for Verticon 2026 in Atlanta on March 9. Electric Air Mobility will be there. Stay tuned for more.
Tokyo’s Urban Skies: A First for eVTOL Operations
Between February 24 and 28, 2026, SkyDrive conducted a series of demo flights at Tokyo Big Sight, a major event venue on Tokyo Bay — marking the first-ever public flights of a SkyDrive aircraft over Tokyo.
The flights were conducted under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s “Project for Developing Business Models for eVTOL (Flying Car) Services in Tokyo,” SkyDrive announced in June 2025. This was the officially sanctioned step in the capital’s urban air mobility roadmap.
This wasn’t simply a flight display. The goal of the flight program was to evaluate the integrated ground and flight operations needed to support the future commercialization of urban eVTOL transport — assessing the full operational sequence from pre-flight preparation through to departure, cruising, landing, and returning the aircraft to the hangar.
The SD-05: Built for the Urban Grid
There is much to be said about the SD-05. It’s dome was re-engineered early 2020s to make its energy use more efficient in the layout of the propellers. At the center of the Tokyo flights, the same SKYDRIVE (SkyDrive Model SD-05) that flew at Expo 2025 in Osaka showed its compact multicopter design. This proved a distinct operational advantage in one of the world’s most densely built cities.
The city of Tokyo has around 70 rooftop heliports accessible to helicopters in emergencies, the majority with dimensions of around 15m x 15m to 20m x 20m. The SD-05’s precise control technology and compact size allow it to access the large majority of these existing rooftop heliports, making it a practical eVTOL option for future intra-city short-hop journeys.
During the demonstration, the SD-05 took off from a vertiport measuring just 20m x 20m — a flight path that started within the limited space inside the Tokyo Big Sight grounds before extending out over the sea. A single demo flight covered 150 meters at a maximum altitude of 13 meters, with a flight time of approximately 3.5 minutes.
End-to-End Operations: The Passenger Journey Tested
An important aspects of the Tokyo program was its focus on the full passenger experience, not just the aircraft itself.
Terminal infrastructure was built to allow members of the public to test and provide feedback on various pre-boarding procedures, including facial recognition-enabled passenger check-in and passenger security screening. The mobile passenger terminal — roughly 54 square meters — included a gallery, a departure lounge with live flight information, a safety inspection area, and a dedicated operations room for monitoring airspace, vertiport resources, and passenger flow.
SkyDrive collaborated with UK-based Skyports, a global leader in vertiport infrastructure, to recruit volunteer members of the public who could experience part of the eVTOL passenger journey as part of efforts to confirm the effectiveness of passenger terminal operations.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Official Backing
The program carried the full weight of government support. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has developed a roadmap for the introduction of eVTOL infrastructure, recognizing the potential for eVTOL aircraft to improve resident quality of life by combatting traffic congestion and radically transforming the movement of people and goods.
Tokyo Vice Governor Makoto Nakazawa, commenting on the flights, noted that eVTOL has now been categorized as essential social infrastructure in Japan’s regional development plans — a designation that positions SkyDrive’s work in Tokyo as foundational, not experimental.
CEO Comment
SkyDrive founder and CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa said following the flights:
“Following our successful demonstration flights at the 2025 Osaka Expo and the Osakako Vertiport, I am delighted to see our aircraft reaching the skies of Tokyo for the first time. Multicopters are agile aircraft, ideal for operations in major urban areas with limited space to maneuver. As we work towards the introduction of commercial services, I hope that Tokyo residents will share our enthusiasm and excitement for the future of this new form of transport.”
Next Stop: Atlanta — A U.S. Expansion Announcement
With Tokyo in the books, SkyDrive is now setting its sights on the North American market. CEO Fukuzawa will appear at Verticon 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, for what promises to be one of the more closely watched announcements at this year’s show. We hope you will join us there next week where we will conduct our next The Ways We Move podcast with interviews and more, now in its second season. You can also check out our YouTube channel here. And to find the podcast on your favorite podcast platform here:
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SkyDrive’s confirmed news conference — titled “From Expo 2025 Japan to the U.S.: SkyDrive CEO Unveils its American Expansion Plan” — is scheduled for Monday, March 9, 2026 at 4:00 PM in Room B211 at the Georgia World Congress Center. CEO Fukuzawa will be joined by the CEO of SkyDrive’s new U.S. partner to jointly unveil the company’s roadmap for the North American eVTOL and AAM market.
Come and meet Electric Air Mobility at the SkyDrive Booth B-8620.
For industry professionals tracking the U.S. eVTOL landscape, this is a session worth attending in person.
All images attributed to SkyDrive Inc. and used without alteration per press guidelines. Media assets available via SkyDrive’s official press release at skydrive.co.jp.