Jeju Air joins consortium for UAM services

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest budget carrier, said Wednesday it has joined a consortium to provide urban air mobility (UAM) services in efforts to find a new growth driver.

Jeju Air and five others formed the consortium to participate in the transport ministry-led K-UAM Grand Challenge project in the next two years to commercialize the UAM services by 2025, Jeju Air said in a statement.

The five other firms are local refiner GS Caltex Corp., No. 3 telecom company LG Uplus, taxi-hailing app Kakao Mobility Corp., domestic drone solutions company Pablo Air Co., and British UAM manufacturer Vertical Aerospace Ltd.

"While focusing on its mainstay airline business, Jeju Air aims to develop a variety of tourism products in connection with the UAM business," the statement said.

In the K-UAM GC project, Jeju Air will be in charge of operating UAMs, planning flight schedules, and collecting flight data, the company said.

GS Caltex will set up vertiports, terminals that allow takeoff and landing for UAMs, in some of its gas stations, Kakao Mobility will establish vertiport solutions, such as automotive check-in and security inspection function, and LG Uplus will offer telecommunications services for a stable operation of UAMs, it said.

Pablo Air plans to set up an integrated aviation control system for UAMs, and Vertical Aerospace plans to conduct a test flight of a Korean-made UAM at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. (Yonhap)