The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition (hereinafter referred to “the Association”) and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as “the OCCI”) have selected Marubeni Corporation to conduct a demonstration flight of an Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft (hereinafter referred to “eVTOL”) with a pilot, in an effort to build momentum for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan (hereinafter referred to as “the Expo”) and to create innovation for future society. Its demonstration will be carried out on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
The “Demonstration Project Promotion Team Osaka” (hereinafter referred to as “Team Osaka”), consisting of Osaka Prefecture, City of Osaka, and the OCCI, has provided the support for the implementation of the project.
※ This demonstration experiment was announced as “Flight experience with eVTOL, Experience the Sky” in the press release dated May 31, 2021, adopted projects for the demonstration experiment on Yumeshima island.
○ For this demonstration flight, “HEXA” will be used, a single-seat eVTOL manufactured by LIFT AIRCRAFT Inc. of the United States, and a pilot will perform several flight patterns, including up-and-down and circling flight. This is the first piloted demonstration flight in Japan in an outdoor space that requires a government permit.
※ As a result of discussions and coordination, the experiment will be conducted in Osaka Castle Park.
○ The purpose of this demonstration flight is to contribute to the improvement of social acceptance of flying car, which is indispensable for their social implementation, and to build momentum toward the realization of a flying car.
○ This demonstration experiment was one of the nine proposals selected from among 39 proposals submitted to the Association and the OCCI from January 18 to February 19, 2021, for a demonstration experiment on Yumeshima, the Expo site. Team Osaka has been supporting these projects in the area of discussions/ coordination of the contents and the site of the experiments.
1．Date
Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15, 2023
2. Venue
Osaka Castle Park Baseball Ground (Osaka castle park, 3 Osakajo, Chuo ward, Osaka)
3. Implementer
Marubeni Corporation, LIFT AIRCRAFT INC. (Co Operator: Chodai Co., ltd)
Regarding the demonstration experiment:
Department of industry, Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry
TEL：+81-6‐6944‐6300
Public Relations Department, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
e-mail: media@expo2025.or.jp