Drone taxis to see start of commercial service by 2025

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."