May 30, 2025 – PLANA, a developer of hybrid-electric aircraft for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), today announced that it has secured a strategic investment from SkyTaxi (Soratobu Taxi Co., Ltd.), an air taxi company based in Osaka, Japan.
The investment is structured in two tranches. The first tranche was funded in mid-May, and the second tranche is scheduled for the end of 2026, subject to PLANA’s R&D progress during 2026.
SkyTaxi was established in May 2022 by Daiho Taxi, the oldest taxi company in Osaka, with the goal of launching commercial air taxi operations. Daiho Taxi will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. SkyTaxi is preparing air taxi routes connecting central Osaka, including Umeda and Namba, with Kansai and Kobe airports and tourist destinations across Japan. Over the longer term, it plans long-range services focused on tourism and international routes linking Japan with Korea and beyond.
PLANA and SkyTaxi began working together in May 2023, when the two companies signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for 50 of PLANA’s CP-01 hybrid eVTOL aircraft along with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on AAM aircraft development and operations. Since then, the companies have worked together on operational concepts, cabin interior design, market analysis, and the development of cross-border AAM routes. SkyTaxi selected the CP-01 for the significantly longer range that its hybrid powertrain makes possible.
With this investment, SkyTaxi becomes both a customer and a shareholder of PLANA, engaged from the aircraft development stage onward. The partnership is expected to bring operator requirements into the aircraft’s design and to accelerate PLANA’s preparations for the Japanese market and commercialization.
“Having a customer who will operate our aircraft invest in us at the development stage is a strong vote of confidence in PLANA’s technology and business direction,” said Braden Kim, CEO of PLANA. “We will meet our R&D milestones to secure the second tranche, and work with SkyTaxi to build a model case for the AAM market in Japan.”