Air India, SkyDrive and Suzuki Motor Corporation have signed an MoU to conduct a joint feasibility study on the use of eVTOL aircraft for medical air logistics in India.
Air India, SkyDrive Inc. and Suzuki Motor Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct a joint feasibility study on the use of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft for medical air logistics in India. The collaboration aims to address the challenge of time-critical medical logistics in India’s major cities, where severe traffic congestion creates significant delays. By combining SkyDrive’s eVTOL technology, Air India’s operational expertise and airport infrastructure knowledge and Suzuki’s India market insight, the three companies will explore solutions for last-mile emergency medical logistics including the transport of high-value, time-critical medical supplies.
Ramesh Mamidala, Head of Cargo at Air India, said the potential application of eVTOL aircraft for medical air logistics combined technology and purpose, helping to reduce critical transit times when every minute could make a difference. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SkyDrive, said the partnership with Air India and Suzuki was a step towards medical logistics, a sector where every second counts and lives can be saved, and that eVTOLs would reshape medical infrastructure in India where chronic congestion was a pressing issue. Masao Fujitani, Executive General Manager of Next Generation Business Development at Suzuki Motor Corporation, said the eVTOL aircraft being developed by SkyDrive embodied Suzuki’s philosophy of smaller, fewer, lighter, shorter and neater mobility and had the potential to support medical infrastructure in urban areas.
