TOKYO: Airline ANA said Thursday (Aug 7) that, together with a US start-up, it hopes to have electric "air taxis" whizzing over Japan from as early as 2027.
ANA and California-based Joby Aviation said they will establish a joint venture with a view to deploying more than 100 of the five-seater aircraft.
Flying taxies will "revolutionise our air mobility", Koji Shibata, president and CEO of ANA, said in a statement Tuesday.
An ANA spokesman told AFP on Thursday that the aircraft, designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph (320km/h), could be in service from as early as 2027.
The project primarily envisages trips between Narita and Haneda airports and Tokyo, although the routes can diversify in the future.
Currently, a car or train ride between central Tokyo and Narita typically takes an hour or longer, but Joby's five-seater can shorten this to around 15 minutes, ANA said.
There are no price details yet, but ANA wants to make the service as affordable as possible for the general public, a spokesman told AFP.
ANA and Joby will make a public flight demonstration of the vehicles at the Osaka Expo in October.
"Where ancient wisdom, legendary craftsmanship and soaring ambition converge -- that's Japan", said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation.
"And that makes it an extraordinary launchpad for redefining the future of air mobility".
Joby's aircraft lift off like a helicopter, then transition to fly forward like a plane "with minimal acoustic impact and zero operating emissions", according to the firm.
In December, flying taxi startup Volocopter said it was filing for insolvency, days after another German company in the field, Lilium, was saved from collapse.
Volocopter had been aiming to enter the market in 2025 with its two-seater "Volocity" electric air taxi model.
It suffered a setback when it had to cancel test flights in Paris during this summer's Olympics at short notice after the certification for its aircraft engine didn't come through in time. - AFP
