[앵커]
In the future, I don’t know if the day will come when I commute on a UAM gas.
Hanwha Systems is in the process of developing a UAM aircraft, and the first commercialization is expected to be in 2025.
Reporter Bae Seok-won reports.
[기자]
This is a model of UAM exhibited by SK Group at CES 2023.
Passengers can wear VR glasses and experience as if they are flying in the real sky.
It is still in the trial stage, but it is expected to enter the commercialization stage in a few years.
The Busan Expo 2030 Bid Committee submitted a plan to utilize the UAM future transportation system in the bid plan submitted to the World Exposition Organization (BIE) in September of last year.
If it is confirmed as the host country at the end of this year, it will use UAM as an actual means of transportation.
[싱크] Lee Chang-yang/Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
“Because the host country is decided at the end of the year, activities from the first half of this year seem to be quite important. The same goes for the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and all ministries, but I ask you to give more strength with a new resolution this year.”
Currently, four companies, including Hanwha Systems and SK Telecom, have jumped into the UAM business at the Busan World Expo.
Hanwha Systems will be in charge of dual aircraft development, navigation, control solutions, and aircraft maintenance.
It was 2019 when Hanwha Systems fired a signal to enter the UAM business market.
It was in February 2020 that I jumped into development in earnest.
Joint development of the UAM aircraft with Overair of the United States is underway, and the development of the prototype is expected to be completed at the end of this year.
The aircraft is called the ‘Butterfly’, a vertical take-off and landing machine powered by 100% electricity.
Since there is no emission of pollutants such as carbon emissions, it is attracting attention as a future eco-friendly means of transportation.
The Butterfly can carry a total of six people, one pilot and five passengers.
It can travel more than 100 miles, cruise speed up to 320 km, and can load luggage.
It is being planned as a means of transportation at the 2030 Busan World Expo, and the first commercialization is expected to be in 2025 earlier than this.
An official from Hanwha Systems said, “It is known that the government is considering a pilot service in the metropolitan area at the end of 2025.”
The cost of using UAM is said to be at the level of a deluxe taxi, but nothing has been specifically decided yet.
Hanwha Systems plans to operate air taxis when preparations for commercialization, such as gas development, are completed.
The world’s largest terminal where air taxis can land and alight is also planned to be built at Gimpo Airport.
Hanwha Systems plans to lead the UAM ecology by utilizing its capabilities in a situation where UAM aircraft and infrastructure development competition is taking place worldwide.
This is Pax Economy TV Bae Seok-won.
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