Japan’s AirX Opts for up to 50 Eve eVTOL Aircraft Worth $250 million

Tokyo-based air charter broker AirX placed a firm order for two Eve Air Mobility eVTOL aircraft and options for 48 more—a deal potentially worth $250 million (at estimated list prices)—on Wednesday at the Singapore Airshow. AirX will use the electric aircraft mainly for transfer and sightseeing flights in Japan, with a focus on the Osaka Bay area. Its first two eVTOLs are expected to be delivered in 2029.

AirX has been arranging these types of flights throughout Japan in helicopters, flown by partner companies holding air operator certificates, for nearly 11 years via its Airos Skyview online booking platform. Bookings at the company are evenly split between transfer and sightseeing flights. An app planned for launch in the second quarter will provide a more user-friendly interface that would better facilitate ad-hoc advanced air mobility (AAM) bookings, AirX founder and CEO Kiwamu Tezuka told AIN.

According to AirX supply innovation procurement specialist Masato Kikuchi, plans call for the company to lease the Eve eVTOLs to partner operators that will fly them. AAM service with the four- to six-passenger electric aircraft is set to begin in the Tokyo metropolitan area within the next five years, dependent on when it obtains certification, he noted.

Asked how much AAM flights would cost on an Eve aircraft, Tezuka said he and his team “are trying to figure that out right now.” However, he noted that demand is there: “We already get lots of requests for transfer flights using helicopters.”

Eve's v-p of services, operations solutions, strategic design, and ecosystem Luiz Mauad expanded on AAM demand in Asia-Pacific, where Eve forecasts a need for 12,200 eVTOLS—41% of the projected world fleet. Deeply congested cities will drive this demand, he noted.

Mauad said eight of the world’s 10 largest cities are in this region, with Tokyo at the top of the list. In addition, the population in Asia is expected to skyrocket from 2 billion in 2020 to 3.5 billion at the end of this decade, leading to more urban congestion that eVTOLs can help alleviate.

According to Mauad, eVTOLs will greatly decrease travel times in cities such as Tokyo. For example, he said an Eve eVTOL aircraft could fly from Tokyo Haneda Airport to a city-center vertiport in 15 minutes, versus more than one hour by car. Eve’s aircraft has a baggage area that can fit two checked and two carry-on bags to facilitate such airport transfers, he added.

“Asia-Pacific has a huge appetite for eVTOL AAM, including passenger and light cargo flights,” Mauad said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Eve's AirX deal is potentially worth $150 million, with an outdated list price of $3 million per aircraft. The true value of the contract, including all options, is $250 million. According to Eve, the list price of the aircraft is now approximately $5 million.