Visiting the Advanced Air Mobility pavilion at the Osaka 2025 Expo. What to Expect?

Advanced Air Mobility features prominently at the Osaka 2025 World Expo.

Although some of the boldest plans drawn for this Expo, such as the eVTOL flight displays, have yet to materialize (these were always going to be quite challenging, if what happened with the planned eVTOL demo at Paris 2024 Olympics is of any guide), there is a whole pavilion dedicated to Advanced Air Mobility (“Advanced Air Mobility Station” is called and it has a pretty central location within the Expo grounds) and some of the national pavilions have also occasionally hosted eVTOL-themed events.

Japan is, actually, one of the countries that have taken a keenest interest in the nascent advanced air mobility industry (it is even possible to find some billboards in the streets of Tokyo with eVTOL themes!).

In addition to having its own local eVTOL industry, with players such as SkyDrive and Marubeni, several of the major international players have also established a bridgehead in Japan by the hand of local partners.

Joby, for example, has partnered with ANA (and has even flown demo flights in Japan), while Archer has done the same with Japan Airlines (JAL). Vertical Aerospace, in turn, is partnering with Marubeni, with its VX4 expected to complement the Japanese firm’s HEXA unipersonal eVTOL. China’s AutoFlight has, reportedly, found one of its first customers in the country too.

So, as I recently had the chance to visit the Osaka 2025 World Expo, I could not pass the chance to visit the Advanced Air Mobility pavilion to check the Japanese eVTOL scene from up close.

To be fair, at the time of my visit (early May 2025), the Advanced Air Mobility pavilion at the Osaka Expo was still some way off from showing the full potential of this industry in Japan.

The pavilion is, in fact, quite small and some of the eVTOL developers, such as Joby and Marubeni, had also a limited presence through informative panels.

SkyDrive had a full scale mockup of its two passenger (+1 pilot) eVTOL and it was possible to get inside the cabin and cockpit.

SkyDrive eVTOL

Good enough. But the most interesting thing to see (or to experience, to be more accurate) is the Archer Midnight immersive experience, which is presented in partnership with Japan Airlines.

The room where the audiovisual experience takes place can take only a limited number of people at a time, so there is a queue and here is where things get interesting…

While waiting for your turn, staff at the pavilion hand you a tablet with an app on which allows you to design your own Archer Midnight livery.

A genious way to keep people entertained during the wait, but also to initiate the engagement with the brand, since your designs are then uploaded to the digital experience and become part of the actual experience. You can see your own livery flying around (digitally) when you enter the room!

The experience itself, which lasts around 10min, is a simulated flight between downtown Osaka and Kansai Airport (KIX) and also between Osaka and other nearby locations, demonstrating the regional transportation capabilities of the Archer Midnight.

How do you like my Archer Midnight design, btw?

eVTOL view of Osaka

I must say, was pretty cool and gives you a good feel of what it may be like when Archer’s eVTOL aircraft enters service!

The show highlights as well, of course, Japan Airlines’ role in the Japanese eVTOL scene and, more generally, as a company capable to invest in the latest air mobility technology at any given time.

As the local partner of Archer JAL is expected to become the operator providing shuttle services with the Archer Midnight eVTOL in selected locations across Japan, such as downtown to airport, but also providing regional services connecting cities to sites in the countryside.