Volocopter & Kakao Mobility partner on urban air mobility study in South Korea

Volocopter and Kakao Mobility have inked a memorandum of understanding to conduct a feasibility study on introducing UAM in South Korea. The study will identify a list of potential commercial routes, operational capabilities, and business models necessary for a UAM service operator in South Korea. The findings, to be released by February 2022, will lay the groundwork for possible future cooperation between both companies to launch UAM services in South Korea, which plans to commercialize the service by 2025.

UAM refers to urban transportation systems that move people by air. This mobility form complements existing mobility options in cities to reduce congestion and lets people reach their destinations faster and more comfortably. As the pioneer in the UAM industry, Volocopter is the first and only electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) company globally to have obtained both design and production organization approvals from European Union Aviation Safety Agency. 
 

Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter, said, “Having a strong and reliable network of partners has always been a fundamental factor for our continued success. We believe that the synergy from the cooperation with a leading local partner helps us develop a service tailored for the domestic market. We are very excited about our partnership with Kakao Mobility, South Korea’s industry leader in platform technology. Through this partnership, we will leverage Kakao Mobility’s existing network of urban ground mobility and readapt their strengths for urban air mobility.” 

Kakao Mobility has Kakao T app, which is the largest mobility platform in South Korea and offers various mobility-related services such as taxis, parking, and navigation through this Mobility-as-a-Service app. Seungil You, Chief Technology Officer of Kakao Mobility, said, “As the largest mobility platform in South Korea with 30 million registered users, Kakao Mobility has deep insights on traffic patterns and customer needs in the Korean mobility market. Starting from the cooperation with Volocopter in the Korean market, we are looking forward to expanding our partnership across the UAM industry worldwide as well as our business as an airspace mobility platform in the future.”
Volocopter has recently conducted two public test flights at Gimpo International Airport and Incheon Airport of Seoul, South Korea, the republic’s first ever crewed public test flights of an eVTOL aircraft.