Incheon Airport to accelerate urban air mobility test flights

Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) has announced a partnership with Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. and KT Corporation to accelerate the development of urban air mobility (UAM) and conduct test flights.

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed and the four parties will work towards commercialising this concept by 2028.

In June 2020, the Korean government announced the Korean UAM Roadmap, outlining steps needed to commercialise UAM. The four companies endeavour to align with the roadmap that includes the Korean UAM Grand Challenge: The public-private joint demonstration project that provides the basis for studying the construction and operation of vertiports; airports for UAMs.

IIAC will work to establish the infrastructure and study the feasibility of utilising the urban transport mode as airport shuttles. All four parties will be sharing necessary information during the development as well as jointly working on test flights.

“The breadth and depth of this partnership shows what it will take to build a comprehensive ecosystem to serve megacities like Seoul,” said Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Urban Air Mobility Division at Hyundai Motor. “Building a robust infrastructure and business model is just as important as developing innovative UAM vehicles.”