Photo/Illutration An artist’s rendering of what a flying car SkyDrive Inc. is developing might look like (Provided by SkyDrive Inc.)

Five locations have been selected as candidate takeoff and landing sites for “flying cars” during the 2025 Osaka Kansai Expo including near a castle, tourist attractions and airports, according to sources.

Flying cars are a flagship program of the expo, which will be Japan’s first opportunity for these vehicles to operate commercially.

The central government and Osaka prefectural and Osaka city officials are discussing ways to use five sites inside or outside the expo venue as takeoff and landing sites during the event.

The five sites being considered include sites near the Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka; near Osakajo Koen Station on West Japan Railway Co.’s Osaka Loop Line close to Osaka Castle; the Central Pier near Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan; Kansai Airport; and Kobe Airport.

Other potential sites include the Nakanoshima Gate Area at the western edge of the Nakanoshima district in Osaka and Yao Airport in Yao, Osaka Prefecture.

One of the planned purposes for the flying cars is using them as “flying taxis” that can accommodate at least two people and transport them between the landing and takeoff sites and the expo venue.

Officials also plan to fly them over the sea or rivers.

However, as there are elementary schools and hospitals near the planned sites, officials will hold a meeting with locals this spring to explain the safety of flying cars and seek understanding from them.

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the expo’s organizer, plans to choose operators for the flying cars at the end of this month.

After that, the organization will make a final decision on the locations of the takeoff and landing sites after discussing it with the chosen operators.

It will then allocate takeoff and landing sites to each operator.

There is no official definition of flying cars, but central government officials deem them to be typically operated using electricity, automated and with the capability of vertically landing and taking off from the ground.

Some flying cars are of an "airplane type," with multiple propellers like drones, as well as wings. 

Experts are developing flying cars in Japan and overseas. It is expected that they will be more widely used all over the world.

Flying cars can be useful in relieving traffic congestion in urban areas or they can be new transport means for remote islands or in mountainous areas, observers said.

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