KAI Begins Construction of Rotary-Wing Flight Center in Jinju City

AAV Testbed Construction
Start of Jinju's Third Miracle

Jinju City in Gyeongnam held a groundbreaking ceremony for the ‘KAI Rotary-Wing Flight Center’ on the 31st of last month at the Gasan General Industrial Complex in Ibansung-myeon. The event was attended by about 300 people, including Mayor Jo Gyu-il, Kang Gu-young, CEO of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), officials from Gyeongsangnam-do, KAI representatives, former heads of relocated public institutions, the Air Force Education Command commander and military officials, city and provincial council members, and village resident representatives.

Rotary-wing aircraft are aircraft that fly by vertical takeoff and landing using the power of rotating wings and rotors (a type of propeller). They typically refer to helicopters, drones, and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) for future urban air mobility.

The KAI Rotary-Wing Flight Center project was promoted as a result of the alignment between Jinju City’s ambition to become a mecca of aerospace industry and KAI’s need to secure a dedicated flight center for rotary-wing aircraft. After signing an investment agreement in June 2021 and completing site development in July, the construction of the flight center is set to proceed in earnest from the groundbreaking ceremony until the first half of 2024.

KAI-Jinju City Rotary Wing Flight Center Groundbreaking Ceremony.

In particular, the Rotary-Wing Flight Center is the only large-scale aviation facility in Korea where KAI, a comprehensive aerospace systems company, will invest 25 to 70 billion KRW in phases on a 135,000㎡ site to establish its own takeoff and landing grounds and create optimized flight conditions necessary for mass production of rotary-wing aircraft.

Following approval of the airfield development project plan by the Busan Regional Aviation Administration in July, KAI plans to secure airspace and actively build a land helicopter pad, parking apron, office building, aircraft control center, and runway.

The city has named Jinju the ‘City of Miracles.’ The first miracle was the victory in the Battle of Jinju Fortress during the Imjin War, and the second miracle was the city’s steady growth as the birthplace of the Korean industrial revolution, producing founders of major corporations such as GS, LG, Samsung, and Hyosung.

Especially with the establishment of the KAI Rotary-Wing Flight Center, it is expected to lead the development of future 4th industrial revolution sectors such as the AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) industry, achieving the ‘third miracle.’

Mayor Jo said, “The KAI Rotary-Wing Flight Center is a large-scale investment project by a private company and is expected to serve as a new catalyst for changes in the aviation industry ecosystem. We will do our best to make Jinju a global aviation industry hub by establishing an AAV demonstration center and production base.”

Meanwhile, as the need to attract large corporations to play a central role in creating local jobs and revitalizing the economy continues, Jinju City established a corporate attraction team in 2019 and recruited private investment attraction experts with extensive corporate experience, ultimately securing KAI’s Rotary-Wing Flight Center, the only aircraft manufacturing company in Korea.

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