SkyDrive has taken new investment from Tobu Railway Co. Ltd. and Tobu Top Tours Co. Ltd., making the Tobu Group its fifth Japanese railway partner and giving the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developer a base for vertiports, ticketing and tour packages in the Kanto region around Tokyo ahead of the commercial services it plans for 2028.

SkyDrive announced the funding, made through a third-party share allotment, in a press release dated November 12, 2026, from Toyota City, Japan. The company did not disclose the amount. The partners say they aim to speed up commercial eVTOL deployment in Kanto by combining Tobu Group’s transportation and tourism assets with SkyDrive’s aircraft development and operational expertise.

What each Tobu company brings

The release sets out three areas of work. Tobu Railway will use its rail network, regional presence and tourism assets, especially in the Nikko area, to establish and promote vertiports. The partners will also use Tobu Railway’s “SAKULaLa” common biometric authentication platform, which Tobu Railway developed jointly with Hitachi, Ltd., for identity verification and boarding pass clearance.

Tobu Top Tours will act as an operational connector, using its destination management expertise and municipal networks to design new business models and to package secondary transport. The partnership covers business development and ground infrastructure planning across Kanto.

Tomohiro Fukuzawa, founder and CEO of SkyDrive, said the company is “thrilled and deeply encouraged that Tobu Railway and Tobu Top Tours share our vision for the future.” He said eVTOLs need more than aircraft, namely connections to transit networks, vertiports and regional travel experiences, and that SkyDrive and the Tobu Group “will work toward launching commercial services in 2028 to make air mobility a daily choice.”

A rail-first network strategy

SkyDrive has built its domestic plans around railway operators, working with major Japanese railway companies on urban networks that combine train travel with eVTOL flights. Before Tobu, SkyDrive had partnership agreements with four railway companies, each tied to specific routes: Kintetsu Group Holdings in the Ise-Shima area; Osaka Metro, with its “Osaka Diamond Route” linking four key locations in Osaka; East Japan Railway Company (JR East), for routes between Morioka and AZUMA FARM KOIWAI; and Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu), in Oita Prefecture, including the Beppu and Yufuin hot spring areas. SkyDrive says it has worked with these operators on feasibility studies and flight demonstrations.

In October 2025, ahead of the Japan Mobility Show 2025 in Tokyo, SkyDrive announced an exhibit built around a boardable mockup of its SD-05 aircraft, entered through a touch-and-go automatic ticket gate, alongside panels showing planned flight routes. The company said at the time that the aim of the railway partnerships was convenient travel combining rail and urban air mobility, along with regional development and public acceptance of the technology. The Tobu agreement brings that model to Kanto.

Where SkyDrive stands

SkyDrive, based in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, began testing eVTOL prototypes in 2014 and was incorporated in 2018. In 2019, it says, it became the first company in Japan to fly a crewed eVTOL. It flew uncrewed demonstration flights at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and says it is now working through certification steps toward type certification. It is commercializing with local partners and municipalities in 10 countries.

Manufacturing rests on an automotive partnership. SkyDrive and Suzuki Motor Company signed a commercial and technology partnership in March 2022, SkyDrive set up the manufacturing subsidiary SkyWorks in September 2023, and production began in March 2024 at a Suzuki Group plant in Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Suzuki has also invested in SkyDrive and supports its business development in India, and Naoki Ishii, Representative Director and Executive Vice President of Suzuki, was appointed an independent SkyDrive director.

The Tobu funding is one of several announcements SkyDrive has made since late October 2026. Its news page lists a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six Singapore technology companies on advanced air mobility research and development on October 29, 2026, and an MOU with Goyang Special City and Verty on commercial eVTOL deployment in South Korea on November 4, 2026. In Kanto, the Tobu partnership is meant to support SkyDrive’s 2028 service plans for the SD-05.

Electra and VertiPorts by Atlantic, the vertiport subsidiary of fixed base operation (FBO) network Atlantic Aviation, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to assess how New York City sites could host Electra’s EL9 Ultra Short, a nine-passenger hybrid-electric airplane that Electra says can take off and land in as little as 150 feet. The companies announced the agreement on November 5, 2026, in Manassas, Virginia.

In its press release, Electra said the partners will look at barges, piers or elevated surfaces at new and existing VertiPorts by Atlantic sites in the city. The study is the first step in a broader effort to identify Ultra Short access points in multiple regions, and it follows Electra’s Downtown Skyport demonstration in Lower Manhattan, which Electra says is believed to be the first landing of a fixed-wing aircraft without vertical takeoff capability at that heliport.

What the partners will assess

The MOU covers an assessment of infrastructure that could bring Ultra Short operations closer to where people live and work. Electra describes its concept, which it calls Direct Aviation, as a point-to-point regional travel model that adds distributed access points to the existing hub-and-spoke system. The release does not name specific sites, a schedule or an investment figure.

“The demand already exists for regional travel that is faster and more convenient,” said Diana Siegel, Vice President, Commercial Programs at Electra. She said assessing EL9 Ultra Short operations at VertiPorts sites is a step toward connecting New York City with the surrounding region.

Kevin Cox, CEO of VertiPorts by Atlantic, said: “Electra’s ability to operate from dramatically smaller footprints presents exciting opportunities.” He said the companies are assessing how existing and emerging infrastructure can support a new generation of aircraft.

The market Electra is targeting

Electra’s inaugural Direct Aviation Market Outlook, which the company describes as a nationwide analysis of nearly one billion trips, identified 35 million passenger trips each day across distances of 50 to 500 miles. Compared with driving, the outlook estimates time savings of about 1 hour and 45 minutes from New York City to Boston, 3 hours and 30 minutes from New York City to Washington, D.C., and 45 minutes from New York City to Philadelphia.

The same outlook projects that this service category could carry one million passengers per day within its first decade. Meeting that demand would require an estimated 12,000 to 16,000 aircraft, Electra said, along with distributed access points, regional operators, regulatory frameworks and a scaled supply chain. These are the company’s own projections. Electra says the EL9 meets what it calls the “Rule of Six”: quiet operations, expanded access, safety, meaningful payload, practical range and affordability.

Who the two partners are

Electra.aero, Inc. builds hybrid-electric Ultra Short airplanes and says it has developed and/or certified over 40 prior aircraft. It claims 2.5x the payload, 10x the range and 70% lower operating costs than helicopters and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Its strategic investors include Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell Aerospace and Safran, alongside Prysm Capital and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC). Contracted customers include the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and NASA, and the company reports over 2,200 letters of intent from 60+ commercial customers, including airlines and helicopter operators.

For production, Electra selected Springfield, Ohio, for its first EL9 facility. The company said the planned Springfield plant is an $850 million development expected to create nearly 2,000 jobs and support production of up to 800 aircraft annually.

VertiPorts by Atlantic develops and operates vertiport infrastructure for advanced air mobility (AAM). Its parent, Atlantic Aviation, operates 108 FBO locations across North America and has 98 years of experience, according to the release. On August 27, 2026, Apollo announced that funds it manages had acquired a significant interest in Atlantic Aviation in a transaction valuing the company at nearly $10 billion, with KKR-managed funds, which acquired Atlantic in 2021, remaining a substantial shareholder.

What comes next

Electra described the New York assessment as the start of a wider search for Ultra Short access points. Its recent announcements include five Norwegian sites for 2027 demonstration flights, listed on its news page as “Five Norwegian Sites Selected to Host Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Demonstrations in 2027.” Neither company has said when the New York study will report or which sites it will cover first.

AutoFlight flew five electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from two weight classes in a single autonomous formation at its Bailian Lake Flight Test Base in Kunshan, China, with the lead 5-ton V5000 Matrix covering more than 133 km (about 72 nautical miles) in 47 minutes.

In a press release dated November 3, 2026, the company said the demonstrations took place on October 31 and November 1 and that the whole formation flew with no manual intervention. AutoFlight describes it as a world first for five eVTOL aircraft across two weight classes. It builds on a three-aircraft mixed formation the company flew in May 2026, and it puts the heavy V5000 platform, now in airworthiness certification as a cargo variant, alongside the smaller V2000CG CarryAll, which already holds Chinese certification.

Five aircraft, three models, one formation

The formation combined one V5000 Matrix with four 2-ton aircraft. AutoFlight lists three models in the flight: the V5000 Matrix, the V2000CG CarryAll cargo eVTOL and the V2000CGF CarryAll firefighting eVTOL. The release does not say how many of the four 2-ton aircraft were cargo or firefighting variants.

According to the company, the flight demonstrated automated flight control and safe separation across different aircraft models and weight classes. AutoFlight said that despite strong winds on November 1, the formation stayed stable and kept safe horizontal and vertical separation. The company noted that coordinating aircraft of different sizes and mission profiles requires precise route planning, flight control, communication and safety management.

Guests at the demonstrations included alumni representatives from the Stanford Executive Program (SEP) at Stanford Graduate School of Business, international eVTOL industry professionals, and AutoFlight customers and partners. They also visited Sunship, which AutoFlight describes as its water-based green vertiport on Dianshan Lake, and watched the formation from the lakeside.

Where the V5000 Matrix programme stands

From unveiling to certification

AutoFlight unveiled the Matrix on February 5, 2026, calling it the first 5-ton class eVTOL aircraft, and publicly flew the full mode-transition sequence of vertical takeoff, cruise flight and vertical landing, as AirPro News reported on the Matrix transition flight in February. The aircraft has a 20-metre wingspan, a 17.1-metre length and a maximum takeoff weight of 5,700 kg, and uses the company’s compound wing Lift and Cruise configuration with a triplane layout and six arms.

The February release described two variants. The passenger version can be fitted with 10 business-class seats or six VIP seats. The cargo variant uses a hybrid power system, carries up to 1,500 kg and has a forward-opening door sized for two AKE standard air cargo containers. AutoFlight gave a maximum range of 250 km (about 135 nautical miles) for the pure electric version and 1,500 km (about 810 nautical miles) for the hybrid-electric variant.

On May 24, 2026, AutoFlight reported its first mixed three-aircraft formation, with one V5000 Matrix and two V2000-series aircraft, which tested communication links, route planning, flight coordination and safety control across 5-ton and 2-ton platforms. In the same release, the company said the cargo hybrid-electric V5000CGH had entered airworthiness certification after the February transition flight.

The V5000CGH and the V2000 family

AutoFlight’s May release lists the V5000CGH with a 5,700 kg maximum takeoff weight, a 1.5-ton payload, a 14 m³ cargo hold that fits two AKE containers, a cruise speed of 280 km/h (about 151 knots) and a range of 1,500 km. The company positions it for large-scale emergency rescue, offshore energy supply and inter-provincial heavy feeder logistics.

The smaller V2000CG CarryAll, one of the models in the November formation, has received the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) type, production and airworthiness certificates, according to the May release, which also said the V2000EM Prosperity passenger model was in compliance demonstration. AutoFlight said its airworthiness team has experience from the ARJ21-700, C919 and Diamond DA42 programmes.

What AutoFlight says comes next

AutoFlight said the five-aircraft flight lays technical groundwork for low-altitude transport networks covering long-haul, regional and last-mile routes. As part of its Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) development, the company said it is exploring ways to connect air and sea mobility using eVTOL aircraft and platforms such as Sunship.

In May, the company said it would continue airworthiness compliance work to speed V5000CGH testing, flight trials and certification. Neither the May nor the November release gives a target date for V5000CGH certification or names a launch operator for the type.