Incheon Jawoldo Maritime Area Designated as 'Personal Aerial Vehicle Special Free Zone'... Demonstration Flight in November

Shortened Demonstration Period Through Exemptions and Relaxations of Various Aviation-Related Regulations

PAV Special Free Zone Offshore Area of Jawoldo-Ijakdo-Deokjeokdo [Provided by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The waters around Jawoldo Island in Ongjin-gun, Incheon, have been designated as a special free zone for Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs), a future-oriented air transportation means, giving a boost to Incheon City's PAV industry development.

According to Incheon City and Ongjin-gun on the 15th, Jawoldo Island~Ijagdo Island~Deokjeokdo Island waters in Ongjin-gun applied for the PAV special free zone designation contest hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last June. After a seven-month evaluation process, it was selected as a special free zone, beating other competing cities and provinces.

Accordingly, in this zone, regulations such as the 'special airworthiness certificate' that pre-verifies the safety of PAV aircraft, safety certification, and prior flight approval applied during PAV flights will be exempted or relaxed, which is expected to shorten the demonstration period by more than five months.

PAV is a future-type personal transportation device that can move using both ground and air traffic networks. It is considered a next-generation transportation means that individuals can summon via smartphone and travel autonomously from home to their destination.

However, there were many procedures and regulations to go through before actual demonstration, causing significant inconvenience to related companies. Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport promoted the designation contest for the PAV special free zone last May to foster related service industries such as drone taxis and delivery in line with the enforcement of the 'Act on Promotion and Foundation of Drone Utilization.'

Incheon City is currently conducting indoor ground tests for personal air vehicles and plans to start demonstration flights over Jawoldo Island, the PAV special free zone, around November this year after completing outdoor flight tests.

In particular, Incheon City is evaluated as the only local government capable of promoting the PAV demonstration project at this point, as it already possesses a prototype PAV aircraft in the takeoff stage.

Earlier, in August last year, the city signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the 'Incheon PAV Demonstration Support Center' on Jawoldo Island with Ongjin-gun, Incheon Port Authority, and the Central Regional Coast Guard, among others, to promote the PAV industry.

A bird's-eye view of the human and material resource transfer using PAV envisioned by Incheon Port Authority [Provided by Incheon City]

With Ongjin-gun Jawoldo Island designated as a PAV special free zone this time, Incheon City's plan to foster PAV as a future growth industry has gained further momentum.

The city plans to support research and development projects to secure core PAV technologies and utilize Incheon's geographic characteristics, which include 168 inhabited and uninhabited islands, to promote emergency relief and goods delivery in island areas, as well as tourism product development.

An Incheon City official said, "The designation of the PAV special free zone has removed obstacles to the demonstration project for PAV commercialization," adding, "We will accelerate the creation of a job ecosystem through fostering the PAV industry and transforming it into a high value-added industry."

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