Hyundai and KT sign MoU on urban air transport

  • September 22, 2020
  • Steve Rogerson

Hyundai Motor, Incheon International Airport and Korea Telecom have this month signed a memorandum of understanding to accelerate the development of urban air mobility (UAM).

The parties plan to work together to conduct test flights with the aim of commercialising UAM by 2028.

In June this year, the Korean government announced the Korean UAM roadmap, outlining steps needed to commercialise UAM. Hyundai Motor and its partners will align with the roadmap that includes the Korean UAM Grand Challenge, the public-private joint demonstration project that provides the basis for jointly studying the construction and operation of vertiports, airports for UAMs.

Hyundai will push forward developing the UAM business and securing business cases while Incheon International Airport will work to establish the infrastructure and study feasibility of using UAM as airport shuttles.

Hyundai’s construction arm will use its expertise to build vertiports as well as the transit hub that will connect UAM to other public transportations. KT will set up the communications infrastructure and make business cases for UAM as a mobility service.

All parties will be sharing necessary information during the development as well as jointly working on test flights.

“The breadth and depth of this partnership show what it will take to build a comprehensive UAM ecosystem to serve megacities like Seoul,” said Jaiwon Shin, executive vice president at Hyundai Motor. “Building a robust infrastructure and business model is just as important as developing innovative UAM vehicles. This partnership demonstrates Hyundai’s commitment to facilitating progress for humanity by ushering in a new era of urban air mobility that will revolutionise transportation.”