The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) has launched a call for regional urban air mobility (UAM) projects to identify initial commercialisation models based on regional demand.
MOLIT aims to discover feasible business models that reflect regional characteristics and demand, and to foster an initial market for regionally tailored UAM centred on public services that the public can experience firsthand.
The plan is to focus on identifying use cases that can contribute to resolving local issues, such as mobility support for transportation-deprived areas like islands and mountainous regions, tourism revitalisation, and public medical and administrative services. Additionally, the plan includes establishing a foundation for cooperation to enable private companies to participate in actual projects involving aircraft, operations, communications and platforms.
The public call for proposals runs from May 29 to July 28.
Metropolitan local governments are eligible to apply for the designation of an UAM pilot operation zone, and the plan is to select one project and provide up to 1 billion KRW in state funding.
The evaluation will be conducted by comprehensively considering the public nature of the business model, suitability to local demand, potential for integration with existing transportation systems, and private sector participation and cooperation frameworks. Support may be provided for architectural planning, including reviewing vertiport location and scale, and establishing spatial configuration and operational plans.
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