Are flying taxis set to soar in Japan or face turbulence from tech and safety barriers?

Transport analysts, however, caution that the launch of flying taxi services is not imminent, as no government has yet approved airborne cars, and several technical, legal and safety hurdles remain to be overcome.

Japan baffled by ‘inexplicable’ refusal of Russian envoys to pay parking fines

“I reckon it will be at least three years and probably closer to five years before this becomes commonplace. Even then, they will have to operate in very limited areas, on specific routes and at certain heights and speeds,” said Peter Lyon, a motoring correspondent for Forbes.

In 2018, Japan became the first country in the world to develop a detailed air mobility road map, bringing together private companies, academia and the government to push ahead with an “air mobility revolution”.

It was hoped that a flying car would take to the skies as part of the opening ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but that dream was dashed by the technology not being ready in time and the sporting event was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

03:02

Israel tests Chinese drone taxi over Jerusalem to help ease country’s traffic congestion

Israel tests Chinese drone taxi over Jerusalem to help ease country’s traffic congestion

The vision remains, however, for fleets of flying cars capable of vertical take-offs and landings that do not require large areas for runways and, ultimately, operate autonomously. Proponents hope these vehicles can lead to a reduction in road traffic and operate in the event of a natural disaster.

Joby Aviation announced in October 2022 that it had applied to the Japanese government to operate a commercial passenger service for its five-seat piloted eVTOL aircraft “to connect people and cities through fast, quiet and emissions-free flight”.

Microplastics off Japan’s coast ‘5,500 times higher than in North Atlantic’

“In 2025, Joby plans to open a large, mass-production facility in the US and once these vehicles are being produced in large numbers we will have a better sense of how they can be deployed in the US and Japan,” the official said.

Several other private firms are also working on similar flying car projects, she said, including in the US, Europe and Japan.

Lyon agreed that the technology for the vehicles was making great strides and that the first piloted car was likely to be airborne in a year or so, but there were still many barriers to navigate.

“I liken this to the revolution in autonomous driving,” he said. “The technology has been around for a while now, but when you look around there are only a very few cars actually on the road today with level three autonomous driving, and even then they are only able to operate on certain roads, at certain speeds and under other specific conditions.

Is ‘hubris and arrogance’ behind the continuous decline of English in Japan?

“They are very controlled, and that is a good thing because there have been accidents,” according to Lyon. In future, accidents involving flying vehicles would “almost certainly” happen, he added.

As the vehicles will be electric, range will be an issue that needs to be addressed, with early units likely to be limited to a flying time of 30 minutes and a top speed of 120kmh, said Lyon, who anticipates that the first routes are likely to be shuttle flights from pads on Tokyo Bay to Haneda Airport, a short hop over water to the south.

“There is going to be range anxiety, at first, and the technology is challenging,” Lyon said.