Hanwha Systems Selected as Industry Representative for Korean Urban Air Mobility by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Hanwha Systems' personal air vehicle (PAV) 'Butterfly' being developed together with the US company Overair

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Hanwha Systems announced on the 24th that it was selected as the industry representative for the Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) industry-academia-research-government consortium, ‘UAM Team Korea,’ organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and attended the inauguration ceremony.

Hanwha Systems explained that as a member of UAM Team Korea, it plans to lead the Korean urban air mobility industry by discovering new tasks in the K-UAM roadmap and promoting collaboration among participating entities.

Hanwha Systems has already invested about 30 billion KRW in Overair, a U.S.-based leading company in the development of Personal Air Vehicles (PAV), and dispatched key engineers locally to participate in the entire development process of the ‘Butterfly’ aircraft. The Butterfly incorporates Hanwha Systems’ sensor, radar, communication, and avionics technologies along with Overair’s patented energy-saving flight technologies.

The Butterfly is an electric vertical takeoff and landing (e-VTOL) aircraft equipped with four tilt-rotors, offering a high level of safety and reliability. Tilt-rotors refer to the rotating engines and propellers mounted at the ends of the main wings, which can rotate vertically or horizontally to enable vertical takeoff or high-speed forward flight.

It also supports continuous operation through fast charging and can travel from Seoul to Incheon in about 20 minutes at a maximum speed of 320 km/h. The fare is expected to be comparable to that of premium taxis, as predicted in the ‘K-UAM Roadmap.’

The noise level has been developed to be more than 15 decibels lower than that of helicopters, making it quiet and environmentally friendly, which is expected to make it an aircraft optimized for urban mobility services.

Hanwha Systems plans to gradually expand its business not only in aircraft development but also in ground infrastructure and operation services. Accordingly, it aims to launch UAM pilot operation services for the general public starting in 2026 and gradually expand service areas until 2029, moving toward commercialization.

Kim Yeon-cheol, CEO of Hanwha Systems, stated, “We will do our best to create a domestic UAM industry ecosystem based on our experience and technology gained through early entry into the UAM industry,” and added, “We will further expand cooperative relationships with leading domestic and international companies and discover comprehensive business opportunities to leap forward as a ‘Global UAM Solution Provider.’”

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