JR East Plans ‘Flying Car’ Business in Iwate Pref., Tours Aimed to Be New Resource for Area Beyond Stations

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:52 JST, August 30, 2025

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) aims to begin commercial operations of “flying cars” in Iwate Prefecture by fiscal 2028, planning to use them for shuttle services and sightseeing tours.

The firm is also considering expanding the service to other areas, it said Friday.

Scheduled to open a hotel at Koiwai Farm in Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture, in spring 2026, JR East plans to use flying cars for transfers to and from Morioka Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen line. The company also plans to provide aerial sightseeing tours of Koiwai Farm and Mt. Iwate, intending to establish the service as a new tourism resource.

JR East formed a capital partnership in May with SkyDrive Inc., a startup that develops flying cars. For commercial operations, the company plans to use SkyDrive’s aircraft, which can carry a pilot and two passengers for a total of three people.

At an event held in Tokyo, JR East President Yoichi Kise stated, “We aim to create new forms of mobility through land-based railways and flying cars as a means of addressing the regional challenge of developing secondary transportation beyond train stations.”