Eve Air Mobility and Jeju Air, the first and largest South Korean low-cost airline, today announced the release of a new concept of operations white paper for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flights on Jeju Island. The two companies collaborated to produce the analysis which is the first step in understanding what will be needed to make future urban air mobility (UAM) operations in South Korea a reality.
South Korea is one of the first countries to begin laying the groundwork for urban air mobility. Establishing a concept of operations is one of the first steps toward future Urban Air Mobility. Eve has worked with a variety of cities, countries and regulatory authorities to establish concepts of operations in the U.S., Brazil, U.K. and others around the world.
The jointly written white paper examines in detail, the operational and commercial business case of establishing UAM services in Jeju Island. This includes analysis and findings from the Jejuair voice of customer survey done earlier in 2023.
“This is an important first step to establishing future urban air mobility and eVTOL operations in South Korea,” said David Rottblatt, Vice President Sales, Marketing and Government Affairs of Eve Air Mobility. “The collaboration between Eve Air Mobility and Jeju Air has led to detailed analysis of the needs, opportunities and challenges of safely establishing future eVTOL flights on Jeju Island.”
“As a leading airline, we want to help develop a safe operational environment for UAM, based on our business know-how and aviation experience, thereby creating new value for the aviation industry.” Said Taeha Park, Head of UAM Business Task Force, Jeju Air Co., Ltd. “Just as Jeju Air popularized air travel in Korea, we intend to do the same for UAM.”
“We are taking a very measured and thoughtful approach to understand the needs, opportunities and challenges of each region,” said Augustine Tai, APAC Business Development Lead for Eve Air Mobility. “This latest effort will provide a suitable reference for all stakeholders keen on UAM in South Korea.”
The CONOPS will be available on Eve’s website for the entire community to better understand how the UAM ecosystem will enable a new means of affordable, safe and sustainable transportation on Jeju Island. Eve hopes that the CONOPS will encourage all those responsible for this ecosystem to evolve together so that the industry, regulatory agencies, civil and government entities, and the community can continue investing in, developing, and integrating this new mode of transportation.