Kakao Mobility Prepares for UAM Commercialization... Partners with Volocopter

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Kakao Mobility announced on the 23rd that it has signed a business agreement with global urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft manufacturer Volocopter to advance and prepare for the commercialization of a Korean-style UAM service model.

UAM aims to alleviate traffic congestion in overcrowded urban areas and enhance convenience of mobility. It operates with low noise and environmentally friendly power sources such as electric and hydrogen fuel cells, making it a next-generation future mobility technology.

Since July, Kakao Mobility and Volocopter have jointly researched practical requirements necessary for service commercialization, including ▲‘Estimation of domestic UAM service market demand and scale’ through analysis of ground transportation infrastructure environment ▲‘Selection of potential UAM routes and vertiport (UAM vertical takeoff and landing facility) locations’ based on actual mobility data analysis ▲Case studies on business and service models in Korea ▲‘Safety and certification-related evaluation criteria’ for UAM aircraft and service operation.

The two companies plan to complete the joint research by the end of this month, analyze the research results by February next year, and based on the analysis, propose an optimized UAM operation model for the Korean market and begin preparations for commercialization.

Kakao Mobility stated, "We will leverage the experience of operating the 'Kakao T' platform, autonomous driving technology, spatial information and mapping technology to support seamless travel with a single app from departure to vertiport 1, vertiport 2, and destination throughout the entire route when using UAM services."

Through this collaboration, Kakao Mobility plans to integrate advanced technologies to realize a multi-modal mobility service encompassing both ground and air travel, optimized for the mobility environment in Korea, considering the movement of not only people but also goods.

Yoo Seung-il, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Kakao Mobility, said, "As the megacity phenomenon continues worldwide, the UAM market is expected to become full-fledged from 2025. We will implement a UAM service optimized for the Korean market with Volocopter and establish a K-UAM business model to expand into the global market."

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