ANA not to offer air taxi service at 2025 World Expo in Osaka

KYODO NEWS
September 25, 2024

ANA Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it will not offer a commercial flying taxi service at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, viewed as one of the highlights of the event.

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Sept. 12, 2024, shows the Great Ring, a gigantic wooden structure symbolizing the site of the 2025 World Exposition on an artificial island in the western Japan city of Osaka. The wooden part of the ring, about 2 kilometers in circumference, was completed in August, with the rest of the structure planned to be completed in February 2025 ahead of the start in April 2025 of the six-month world event. (Kyodo

Japan Airlines Co. is also reconsidering its plan to provide air taxis at the expo, sources familiar with the matter said, meaning all four flying car operators that had planned commercial services at the event are unlikely to offer them.

ANA has found it difficult to obtain safety certification from authorities in time, it said. All four operators will still conduct demonstration flights, according to the companies.

Air taxis were expected to provide access to the event's venue on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

File photo taken at Fukuoka airport in March 2024 shows an All Nippon Airways aircraft. (Kyodo)
ANA has been working with Joby Aviation Inc. to operate electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft developed by the U.S. startup, while JAL is preparing to use vehicles developed by Volocopter GmbH from Germany.

The other two operators, Japan-based flying car startup SkyDrive Inc. and Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp., already said they would not operate commercial flights at the expo.