SkyDrive Inc., an advanced air mobility solutions employing flying cars and cargo drones, is pleased to announce that the company's application for a type certificate for its flying car was accepted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) on October 29, 2021. As such, the company has now initiated a type certification project for the aircraft that it aims to commercialise in 2025. SkyDrive is the first flying car developer to reach this stage in Japan.

What Is a Type Certificate?

Under Japan's Civil Aeronautics Law, MLIT issues a type certificate to certify that the design, structure, strength, and performance of a newly developed aircraft meet the necessary safety and environmental requirements for each type of aircraft. Certification is only granted after the aircraft had gone through a battery of studies and tests, including strength tests and flight tests. This is the first time that MLIT has accepted an application for a type certificate for a flying car.

Tomohiro FUKUZAWA, Chief Executive Officer, SkyDrive Inc. commented, "SkyDrive and MLIT have been discussing how to safely develop and test this type of aircraft since the Public-Private Council to promote urban air mobility was launched in Japan in 2018 and SkyDrive received permission for the first outdoor test flight of its flying car. We are very pleased that our application for type certification has been accepted and we will continue to work in close partnership with the government and MLIT to complete our development of a wholly safe and reliable flying car.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of those who have supported us in various ways up to this point and we will continue striving to launch a viable flying car business with the assistance of various organisations and companies, including MLIT, in pursuit of our common goal of realizing an air mobility society."