Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company, Skyports has announced the opening of its branch office in Tokyo, Japan as part of its Asia Pacific expansion.

The AAM infrastructure developer and drone services provider said the formation of a local business entity and team in Japan reflects Skyports' continued commitment to developing the AAM industry in close collaboration with local partners, businesses, regulators, and end-users.

Skyports' Japan office is the first in the region outside of its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore.

It added that the move follows a year of significant activity in the country, with Japanese trading conglomerate Kanematsu Corporation joining Skyports' list of investors in the company's Series B funding round and taking a seat on its board in March, as well as a growing portfolio of projects in Osaka and Tokyo.

Most recently in September 2022, Atsushi Okada was appointed as Skyports' Japan country manager.

"The Asia-Pacific region is an important hub for AAM, and Japan a leading market within it. With support from our investor Kanematsu Corporation, we have significantly matured our networks and portfolio in the country in the last year with multiple projects in progress," said  Yun-Yuan Tay, head of Asia-Pacific for Skyports.

Yun-Yuan Tay noted that the incorporation of Skyports' Japanese office was the "next logical step" in strengthening its operations in the country allowing it to work closely with the growing ecosystem of AAM players as we approach new milestones in Japan.

Meanwhile, Atsushi Okada, country manager for Japan, noted that Japan will play an important role in the future of AAM – which he desribed as the next big innovation for the transport and logistics sector.

"For Skyports, the focus for the next year is to progress our ongoing projects in Osaka and Tokyo through site assessments and regular engagements with the regulatory authorities as we look towards 2025 for initial deployment," Okada added.

Skyports said in its announcement that Okada will oversee Skyports' infrastructure and drone services operations in the country, and lead an extensive list of priorities including real estate agreements, local stakeholder engagement, regulatory approvals, airport and airspace planning, operational procedures, and enabling technology.

Aside from Japan, Skyports already earlier signed an MoU with Jurong Port to develop maritime ship-to-shore drone delivery infrastructure in Singapore.