Hanwha Systems and US-based Overair Jointly Develop Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Air Taxi

Overair Opening Ceremony

[Photo by Hanwha Systems]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Hanwha Systems announced on the 16th that it will actively participate in the joint development of air taxis by attending the opening ceremony of Overair, a leading U.S. personal air vehicle (PAV) company.

At the opening ceremony held on the 14th at Overair's headquarters in Los Angeles (LA), USA, Kim Yeon-cheol, CEO of Hanwha Systems, Ben Tigner, CEO of Overair, Abe Karem, chief designer, and about 30 others attended to celebrate the launch of Overair.

Starting with this opening ceremony, Hanwha Systems will officially join the joint development of Overair's PAV, the ‘Butterfly’. The Butterfly is planned to be developed as an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Hanwha Systems expects to develop a PAV equipped with performance, price, design, advanced autonomous flight, and safety based on its accumulated avionics and ICT technology in the aviation field.

Previously, Hanwha Systems announced last year that it would enter the air taxi market as one of its future new businesses. Since then, it invested about 30 billion KRW in Overair, which possesses specialized PAV technology, and received final approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Additionally, last month, it obtained special export license approval from the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

Overair Butterfly Aircraft Image

Photo by Hanwha Systems

Overair is a company spun off from Karem Aircraft, a core partner of ‘Uber Elevate’, Uber’s air taxi service commercialization project under the ride-sharing service company Uber. Karem Aircraft is a vertical takeoff and landing specialist company holding numerous patents, including technologies for high-efficiency and low-noise air taxis.

Abe Karem, founder of Karem Aircraft and co-founder of Overair, is a world-renowned aviation expert with experience designing 14 aircraft, including the unmanned reconnaissance and attack aircraft Predator. He will play a key role at Overair going forward.

The Butterfly will apply Karem Aircraft’s ‘high-efficiency’ and ‘low-noise’ technologies. Therefore, Hanwha Systems explained that it is designed to be quieter and safer than helicopters and environmentally friendly by not emitting exhaust or other air pollutants.

Hanwha Systems plans to establish a cooperative channel with Overair through a dedicated PAV team and discover comprehensive business opportunities by expanding cooperative relationships with leading domestic and international companies, starting with the joint development of the PAV aircraft.

CEO Ben Tigner stated, “Through the opening of Overair, we expect Hanwha Systems’ excellent avionics technology to play a significant role in the joint development of PAVs.”

CEO Kim Yeon-cheol also said, “As the era of autonomous vehicles opens and related technologies rapidly evolve, competition among global leading companies to enter the PAV market is accelerating. At this time, Hanwha Systems’ early participation in joint development to secure a foothold in the PAV market is very meaningful, and we plan to further expand our business area into future avionics.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.