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Like most carmakers, Lexus has traditionally concentrated on building automobiles. Even so, the marque has shown interest beyond the usual four-wheeled space. In 2024, it unveiled the LY 680 yacht for customers with a taste for life at sea. More recently, a concept reinterpreted the flagship LS sedan as both a six-wheeled van and an autonomous pod, aimed squarely at buyers with a particularly broad view of what a car can be. Now, the company is pushing into a new frontier in the skies.

Called Lexus Flight, it is a new helicopter service operating as part of its parent company’s existing Aero Toyota business in Japan. From late August, the service will deploy a dedicated Lexus helicopter, together with other point-to-point transport options, to provide travel to and from an undisclosed group of destinations for its premium clientele.

As one would expect from a helicopter prepared by Lexus, the seven-seat cabin features richly finished luxury upholstery. The styling may not instantly announce itself as unmistakably Lexus, but the forms and materials do bear some resemblance to certain trim choices offered on the new, dramatically reimagined ES revealed earlier this year.

In its release, Lexus said the service launch “delivers a seamless mobility across land, sea, and air” as the brand works to “redefine the very concept of mobility.” While that wording may sound as if the helicopter is somehow also a car and a boat, the real meaning is that the point-to-point offering links up with chauffeur-driven Lexus car programmes on the ground at the destinations, creating a fully Lexus-branded end-to-end travel service. The sea component is represented by the LY 680 yacht, though it appears to play a smaller role in the overall operation than either the car service or the helicopter itself.