Japanese eVTOL developer SkyDrive has officially begun successful eVTOL demonstration flights using its flagship model above Expo 2025 in Osaka.
SkyDrive Inc. may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of eVTOL flights, but the Japanese startup continues to make steady progress in the development of its aerial technology across two continents.
Like many of its competitors, a significant milestone SkyDrive is working to achieve is scaled eVTOL production. It intends to do so with the help of Suzuki, which previously signed on to manufacture the company’s “SKYDRIVE” eVTOL aircraft in Japan.
In the summer of 2023, SkyDrive announced that it was establishing a US headquarters in South Carolina and had secured its first eVTOL pre-order. Its order book continues to grow as SkyDrive works toward achieving eVTOL flight certification in both the US and Japan.
SkyDrive is perhaps not as prominent in the eVTOL news scene because we have yet to see any bona fide flights take place. In fact, it wasn’t until February 2025 that we saw real-life images of the SKYDRIVE eVTOL rather than renderings.
SkyDrive has made its presence known at the Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, where, as promised, it has begun demonstration eVTOL flights – one of which you can view in the video below.
SkyDrive shares eVTOL flight footage from Expo 2025
Per an update from SkyDrive, it has successfully completed a series of demonstration flights above Expo 2025 in Osaka. The eVTOL flight loops departed the expo’s vertiport, then flew over the ocean in Osaka Bay before returning to base.
Each of the eVTOL flights lasted a few minutes and was completed between July 31 and August 24, 2025. The video footage below is from a successful demonstration flight completed on August 16. With several successful flights now under its belt this past month, SkyDrive shared plans for a second showcase route coming soon.
Beginning September 15, SkyDrive said it will move its eVTOL demonstration flights from Yumeshima Island, where Expo 2025 is being held, to the Osakako Vertiport near the “densely populated Osaka neighborhood.”
Those flights will operate the same SKYDRIVE (Model SD-05) eVTOL from Expo 2025, beginning September 15 through the 23rd. SkyDrive said it believes the demonstrations from the Osakako Vertiport, which Osaka Metro Co. operates, will mark “another significant step towards the wider public acceptance of eVTOLs as a regular means of daily transport.”
Commercial operations of SkyDrive’s technology are expected to begin in Osaka and parts of southern Japan sometime in 2028. The August 16 eVTOL demonstration flight is below.
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