TOKYO: The organizer of the 2025 Osaka Expo said Tuesday that it has picked Japanese airlines ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines, and others as operators of flying cars for the event.

Flying cars are expected to be used as a means of transportation for visitors to the Expo in the western Japan city of Osaka, in their first commercial operations in the country.

Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. and startup SkyDrive Inc. were also picked as flying car operators for the Osaka Expo. US electric aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation Inc. will join the project through its partnership with ANA, the parent of All Nippon Airways.

A landing platform to be set up within the Osaka Expo venue on the artificial island of Yumeshima will be operated by Japanese leasing company Orix Corp.

A flying car is a small electric aircraft equipped with wings and propellers that can take off and land vertically. Two and five-seater models have already been developed.

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is considering using flying cars as means of transportation to link the venue with central Osaka, Kansai International Airport and an Osaka Bay area close to the venue.

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, JAL President Yuji Akasaka said, “If introduced to society, flying cars will be useful during disasters and emergencies, help reduce traffic congestion in urban areas and allow people to go to remote islands and mountain areas freely.”

JIJI Press