SKY advances global aviation technology platform, building on New S-Curve

SkyDrive Inc. announced it will launch a feasibility study to repurpose the 146 existing rooftop emergency landing sites in Osaka City as eVTOL vertiports, part of the Cabinet Office's Super City Initiative. The project will be conducted with partners including Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, Osaka Metro, Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc., Chodai Co. Ltd., and the Organization of Airport Facilitation, with Osaka Metro serving as leader and SkyDrive handling survey design and Civil Aeronautics Act compliance. The study will verify surrounding airspace and obstacle limitation surfaces, survey wind and noise impacts from surrounding buildings, assess floor load capacities and charging infrastructure for repurposing the sites into alternate vertiports, and draft coexistence rules with authorities including the Osaka Municipal Fire Department. The 146 rooftop sites, marked with an H and required on buildings over 100 meters tall under local fire safety regulations, are currently limited to emergency disaster relief, and securing commercial passenger transport permits for them remains a significant regulatory challenge. SkyDrive and Osaka Metro are working toward commercial launch of eVTOL services by approximately 2028 within Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, areas designated as Super City National Strategic Special Zones.

Jifeng Technology announced after market close on September 24 that the company, as consortium leader, together with a consortium formed with Les Information and China Tower Jiangsu Branch, has formally signed a procurement contract with the employer Jiangsu Zhongan Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. The total contract amount is approximately 149 million yuan including tax, consistent with the winning bid amount. The project won by the consortium is the Suqian District low-altitude all-domain smart operations system equipment procurement and supporting services project. The contract stipulates a total amount of 148.882 million yuan including tax. Construction includes intelligent connected network infrastructure, low-altitude takeoff and landing facilities, an integrated low-altitude smart brain platform, and low-altitude application scenarios within the Suqian district. The total construction period is 24 months, with a two-year free maintenance period. On the same day, the company announced the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary, Jiangsu Jifeng Low-Altitude Technology Co., Ltd., which has completed industrial and commercial registration. Its legal representative is Tian Gangqiang, and the funding source is the company's own funds. The subsidiary will be included in the consolidated financial statements. Previously, the company-led consortium won the bid for the Zhijiang low-altitude infrastructure and supporting scenario construction project EPC general contracting, with a winning bid amount of 289 million yuan. The company is responsible for approximately 87.86 percent of the construction work, about 254 million yuan. In the first half of 2026, Jifeng Technology achieved operating revenue of 1.604 billion yuan, up 9.76 percent year on year, and net profit attributable to the parent company of 5.49 million yuan, up 35.76 percent year on year.

BETA Technologies has launched all-electric flight operations in North Carolina's eLIFT program under the FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, or eIPP. Since September 17, the company has flown its ALIA CTOL aircraft on missions including a flyover of the Wright Brothers National Memorial and simulated deliveries of essential healthcare cargo to rural medical access points, covering more than 1,300 nautical miles. Working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Metro Aviation, ECU Health and WakeMed, BETA designed the campaign to connect regional medical centers with rural and coastal communities, including routes between Raleigh Executive Jetport and Pitt-Greenville Airport. The operations use BETA's Charge Cube at Raleigh Executive Jetport, installed in 2024, with more than 15 additional charging sites in development across North Carolina. BETA is participating in seven of the eight eIPP programs selected nationwide and has already supported operational missions in Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana and Texas.

China has declared the low-altitude economy a national strategy under the concept of New Productive Forces. By 2026, cargo drones, agricultural drones, and flying taxis (eVTOL) will begin commercial services in several provinces, creating enormous economic value from the supply chain in airspace below 1,000 meters. Two standout case studies are EHang Holdings, the first Chinese company to receive a Type Certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for commercial eVTOL, and Sichuan Jiuzhou, a state-owned enterprise that produces radar and ADS-B systems and controls air traffic infrastructure. Both companies have strong business moats in terms of regulation and national security. While the world is focused on the EV price war, a new battleground over China's skies has opened, and the winners will be those who secure licenses and infrastructure first.