Korea aims to commercialize by 2025 urban air mobility (UAM) through drone taxis in downtown Seoul.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sept. 28 officially released the manual K-UAM Concept of Operations 1.0 on operating strategies and scenarios for domestic commercialization of UAM service.
The manual said the first phase of commercialization from 2025-29 (early) starts with drone taxis flown by pilots to stabilize the service and its technology. After operating remote-controlled models in the second phase from 2030-34 (growth), those that run autonomously will be gradually introduced in the third and final phase by 2035 (maturation).
The drone taxis will fly routes at an altitude of 300-600 m and use "vertiports," which allow vertical takeoff and landing without a separate runway.
Exclusive UAM corridors that link vertiports of departure and arrival are also planned. Several fixed corridors will be operated early in the commercialization process, and a multi-corridor network will be formed after the addition of more vertiports and routes.
The ministry said a drone taxi cuts travel to a destination that normally takes an hour by car to 20 minutes.
Second Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hwang Seong Kyu said, "If the public and private sectors -- companies, academia, the central and local governments, and public institutions -- put in a joint effort, our country can be the world's first to introduce and make part of daily life next-generation, cutting-edge mobility such as UAM and self-driving vehicles."
