Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) specialist Wisk Aero has signed a three-party MoU with The City of Kaga, Ishikawa, Japan, and Japan Airlines’ subsidiary, JAL Engineering to establish opportunities for introducing autonomous air travel in Japan.
Wisk is developing the first autonomous, passenger-carrying electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi in the US.
Designated by the Japanese government as a national strategic special zone. Kaga City has established the Next-Generation Air Mobility Consortium in Japan – making Kaga City an ideal location for the development, testing and validation of autonomous air mobility.
Sebastien Vigneron, CEO, Wisk, said: “Japan is a key market for the introduction of AAM and Kaga City’s forward-thinking approach to future mobility, coupled with its special zone designation, provides an ideal environment for us to explore and demonstrate the benefits of our Gen 6 aircraft. This partnership is a significant step towards building the necessary ecosystem for autonomous flight in Japan.”
Hiroki Haraikawa, Vice President of Marketing & Sales, JALEC, said: “This three-way partnership will play a central role in realising autonomous AAM in Japanese society.”
Riku Miyamoto, Mayor of Kaga City, said: “Kaga City will strongly support the establishment of an operations base and support the construction of an AAM operation model in collaboration with JALEC.
“Not being a big city like Tokyo or Osaka there is a high degree of freedom as a research and development field – and one-stop arrangements are possible.”
