Korean Air Successfully Completes South Korea's First Local Government-Linked UAM Demonstration

Demonstration with 'K-UAM One Team' member companies

Yeongjongdo-Deokjeokdo-Wangsan Marina route

Confirms potential to expand public UAM services

Korean Air said on October 21 that it had successfully completed a demonstration flight of an urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft in Incheon’s island areas as a member of the K-UAM One Team, formed with Incheon International Airport Corporation, KT, Hyundai Motor, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

Korean Air said the demonstration was significant as South Korea’s first local-government-linked UAM trial, in which the government, local governments, and private companies worked together on everything from identifying public services and designing flight routes to conducting on-site flight verification.

Officials involved in the urban air mobility (UAM) demonstration flight pose for a commemorative photo. Korean Air

The demonstration project was led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Incheon Metropolitan City, with the Aerospace Industry-Academy Convergence Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute taking part. It was launched to verify the feasibility of integrated UAM operations in the flight environment of Incheon’s island areas, drawing on technologies and operational experience gained through the government’s UAM demonstration project, the Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Grand Challenge (GC).

The demonstration flight used a surrogate aircraft and covered a route from Geojampo on Yeongjongdo Island in Incheon, via Deokjeokdo Island, to Wangsan Marina. Korean Air led the consortium’s integrated operations by using its self-developed UAM integrated control system, ACROSS, to manage flight operations and air traffic.

Korean Air has built up UAM integrated operations technologies and experience through the GC demonstrations. In the first-phase GC demonstration, held in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, in April 2024, it worked with the K-UAM One Team to verify interoperability among UAM aircraft, operational systems, and a 5G aviation communications network. In the second-phase GC demonstration, held on the Cheongna-Gyeyang route in Incheon in October 2025, it carried out inter-provider handovers of control authority and responses to abnormal situations to support operations by multiple service providers.

Korean Air has continued to advance ACROSS based on the technologies and operational experience gained in the process. In this demonstration, it also showcased its integrated operations capabilities for handling a variety of flight environments using ACROSS.

Korean Air plans to continue working closely with the companies in the K-UAM One Team to develop technologies and establish an operational foundation for the commercialization of UAM in South Korea. It also plans to continue advancing ACROSS’s system automation and flight operations control and air traffic management functions through research and development projects commissioned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and to establish a safe and efficient integrated UAM operations system capable of handling a variety of flight environments.

ACROSS, developed in-house by Korean Air, is an integrated control solution that helps multiple UAM aircraft operate safely and efficiently over urban areas. It was selected as the integrated UAM control system for Incheon City’s urban air mobility system development project this year, and a separate contract was signed. The first phase of development is scheduled for completion in December 2026.

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