Joby partners with Tokyo real estate giant to look at vertiport development in Japan

Joby and ANA Holdings have partnered with one of Japan’s largest real estate firms Nomura Real Estate Development to explore development of vertiports across the country. 

The building of infrastructure to support air taxi operations is critical to scaling the sector. Together the three companies will explore design, location, operation and financing of vertiports to “serve as the backbone of future commercial air taxi services” in Japan.

Primary focus will be on locations in metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, expanding over time to include numerous urban areas across greater Japan. Joby recently became a technical advisor to the Tokyo Bay eSG Project, led by Nomura and sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which will demonstrate a number of multi-modal mobility solutions including a floating landing port in the Tokyo Bay.

Joby and ANA, Japan’s largest airline group holding company, first partnered in 2022 to bring electric air taxi services to the country. Both Joby and ANA are members of Japan’s Public-Private Conference for the Future Air Mobility Revolution, established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to speed the adoption of air taxi services in the country.

Joby has also had applied for validation of its FAA type certification, once received, with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB).