Seoul unveils plans for UAM with aim of customization in 2030

A city air transportation aircraft for UAM hovers over the Han River in Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul is launching an urban air transportation (UAM) demonstration project with the goal of commercialization in 2030. Once commercialized, UAM will allow passengers to travel between Jamsil and Incheon International Airport in 25 minutes and Pangyo and Gwanghwamun in 15 minutes.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the “UAM, Drone, and AI New Technology Cooperation Conference” held at City Hall on November 11 and unveiled the “Seoul Urban Mobiligy (S-UAM) Future Vision.” It contains a blueprint for building a UAM system across Seoul, focusing on the Seoul Urban Basic Plan.

UAMs, also known as “drone taxis,” are lightweight aircraft that can take off and land vertically, providing transportation to and from the city center. The city has laid out a four-stage UAM activation plan: demonstration, initial, growth, and maturity. A demonstration project will be conducted in the first half of next year before full-scale commercialization. Aircraft and flight control will be applied to two sections, KINTEX (Goyang, Gyeonggi-do) to Gimpo Airport to Yeouido Park and Jamsil to Suseo Station, to verify overall flight safety.

If the demonstration is successfully completed, the initial commercialization will begin between 2026 and 2030, starting with Yeouido. The route will be piloted along the entire Han River, from Gimpo Airport to Yeouido, Jamsil, and Suseo. It is expected to be utilized as a business, tourism, and medical route in conjunction with the “Vertiport (UAM station)” planned to be installed at Gimpo Airport.

From 2030, commercial routes will be operated. By 2035, the goal is to build a wide-area route connecting the Han River and four major tributaries to the capital region. Intermediate stops will be built at Sangam, Gasan, Gwanghwamun, Wangsimni, and Sangbong. “After 2035, when the project enters the mature stage, a trunk line system connecting major urban areas and customized routes for users will be completed.” the city said.

Once the wide-area route is completed, travel time to the city center is expected to be significantly reduced. For example, the 25-kilometer stretch between Pangyo and Gwanghwamun Station, which takes about an hour by car, will be covered in about 15 minutes by UAM, and Jamsil and Incheon Airport will be accessible in 25 minutes. The economic impact is expected to be about 2.2 trillion won per year due to the reduction in travel time, and economic ripple effects are expected to be about 4 trillion won per year due to the expansion of the transportation market in the Seoul metropolitan area and about 1.2 trillion won due to the construction of a vertiport in downtown Seoul, according to the city.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.