Hanwha Systems formed the ‘K-UAM Dream Team’ consortium with Korea Airports Corporation and SK Telecom to provide Korea’s first UAM commercial service in Jeju Island in 2025. A pilot service will be launched connecting Jeju Airport and major tourist attractions, and a vertiport (takeoff and landing) and UAM traffic management system will be established.
The ‘K-UAM Dream Team’ signed a business agreement (MOU) for the ‘Jeju-type UAM pilot project’ with Jeju Special Self-Governing Province at Tamna Hall in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province on the 14th. Representatives from each company who attended the agreement ceremony decided to join forces to create Korea’s first successful case of UAM commercial service with a hyper-cooperative business model that combines the strengths of private companies, public companies, and local governments.
As the consortium and Jeju Island began institutional discussions for a UAM pilot project last August with the proposal of the ‘Act on Promotion and Support of Urban Air Transportation Utilization’, the current aviation system, We plan to create a business environment by modifying and supplementing infrastructure.
Jeju Island’s location as Korea’s largest tourist destination makes it easy to secure public acceptance, and rapid commercialization is possible because it makes full use of Jeju Airport and navigation facility resources owned by Korea Airports Corporation.
For the Jeju UAM pilot project in 2025, ▲Hanwha Systems will develop UAM airframes and develop manufacturing, sales, operation, and maintenance (MRO), and navigation and control solutions. ▲Korea Airports Corporation will build UAM vertiport and navigation safety facilities operated by the corporation. ▲SK Telecom provides UAM traffic management services using infrastructure, etc. ▲SK Telecom is responsible for providing UAM services based on the cooperation system between Joby Aviation in the United States, developing and operating mobility platforms, and communication systems for UAM ▲Jeju Island provides UAM operation sites and infrastructure and supports licensing administration Create a policy environment and UAM ecosystem for business promotion.
Based on its unrivaled sensor, radar, avionics, and ICT technologies, Hanwha Systems entered the UAM market for the first time in Korea in July 2019 and is developing the UAM aircraft, the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) ‘Butterfly’. Hanwha Systems, which is planning to conduct the first flight test of a full-size unmanned prototype next year, is on schedule to obtain a Type Certificate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2025 with its co-developer, Overair of the U.S. Currently, we are also focusing on developing navigation and traffic infrastructure (CNSi) control system technology required for UAM operations.
The consortium will verify safety through the government’s demonstration project, K-UAM Grand Challenge Phase 1 and 2 (2023-2024, Goheung, Jeollanam-do and the metropolitan area), and at the same time build ground infrastructure such as Vertiport, a UAM vertical takeoff and landing site, to launch UAM on Jeju Island in 2025. We plan to start a pilot project and develop it into a foundation for complex urban UAM operations by incorporating future technologies.
Currently, major cities around the world (LA and Florida in the U.S., Paris in France, Osaka in Japan, etc.) are planning to commercialize UAM between 2024 and 2025, and the Jeju Island pilot project is expected to be the fastest in Korea.
Eo Seong-cheol, CEO of Hanwha Systems, said, “Hanwha Systems provides total solutions in the development, operation, and infrastructure of future aircraft (AAV (Advanced Air Vehicle)), verifies safety up to commercialization of UAM, and preempts operational and technical standards appropriate for domestic conditions. “The K-UAM Dream Team Consortium will do its best to lower the psychological hurdles for new transportation methods in Jeju, where tourism and cultural resources are concentrated, and to lead the future mobility paradigm.” He said.
Hyeong-jung Yoon, CEO of Korea Airports Corporation, said, “The Jeju Island pilot project is based on the know-how and technology of Korea Airports Corporation, which has been responsible for Korea’s aviation safety for the past 40 years, future technology and capital owned by Hanwha Systems and SK Telecom, and support from Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. “This will be an opportunity for Korea to leap forward as a global leader in the UAM industry with a hyper-cooperative business model that converges,” he said. “We will continue to take on endless challenges through cooperation with the private sector.”
SK Telecom CEO Yoo Young-sang said, “We will grow Jeju Island, an eco-friendly tourist attraction, based on UAM’s innovation to become a game changer in future mobility services,” and added, “We will set mid- to long-term goals through organic collaboration with the K-UAM Dream Team Consortium. “We plan to produce tangible results,” he said.
Hanwha Systems, Korea Airports Corporation, and SK Telecom have been collaborating to create a UAM ecosystem since last year, and launched the ‘K-UAM Dream Team’ consortium, including the Korea Transport Institute and the Korea Meteorological Industry Technology Institute, in April.
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
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