LG Uplus, Jeju Air, GS Caltex, Kakao Mobility, and Vertical Aerospace sign an agreement to launch a K-UAM consortium
– PABLO AIR announces plans to develop a “UAM Integrated Flight Control System” using its own technology
INCHEON, South Korea – PABLO AIR (CEO Kim Young-Joon), a member of the Born2Global Centre, announced on May 11 that it had launched a consortium with LG Uplus, Jeju Air, GS Caltex, Kakao Mobility, and Vertical Aerospace to commercialize K-UAM and signed a business agreement to participate in the Korean government’s “Korea Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge (K-UAM GC).”
Through the agreement, PABLO AIR is partnering with leading mobility technology companies to enter the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market in earnest, which aligns with the company’s overarching goal of accelerating its drone delivery demonstrations and business commercialization.
A ceremony was held at LG Science Park in Seoul on May 10 to commemorate the six companies’ agreement to cooperate for: The establishment of Korean UAM standards; Individual demonstrations to accelerate the commercialization of services; and Joint research on additional business opportunities in the UAM industry.
PABLO AIR is planning to establish an integrated UAM flight control system based on its previous experience developing PABLO AIR Mobility Network, PAMNet, a smart mobility traffic management system that analyzes flight departures and UAM risk and provides integrated management for the stable operation of aircraft.
Each of the other five companies that are part of the consortium together with PABLO AIR has its own defined role under the agreement. LG Uplus is expected to establish a traffic management system and communication service for the stable operation of UAM, while Jeju Air has agreed to provide safe and reliable flight services, based on its accumulated expertise in the aviation field
Also as part of the agreement, GS Caltex plans to build a UAM Vertiport (Vertical take-off and landing site) utilizing the company’s network of gas stations evenly distributed around the country. For its part, Kakao Mobility will be using its previous experience operating the complete MaaS (Mobility as a Service) app “Kakao T” to develop a multimodal mobility platform and vertiport solution that will be used for automatic check-in and security search functions to support the uninterrupted movement of UAM devices.
Britain’s Vertical Aerospace—a leading global UAM aircraft manufacturer that has already received pre-orders for more than 1,350 eVTOLs from the global market—will be in charge of producing UAM aircraft for the consortium. The company is currently scheduled to perform a UAM pilot flight at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kim Young-Joon, CEO of PABLO AIR, commented on the consortium saying, “With this business agreement, we will work with participating companies to reorganize the UAM industrial ecosystem and commercialize UAM services.” He continued, “We will successfully develop a UAM Integrated Flight Control System and contribute to the management of UAM operations.”
PABLO AIR has previously received recognition for its excellent technology, field utilization, and future growth values in the global market and was awarded 2nd place in the Operation category at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) XCELLENCE Awards in 2021 and 2022 for its development and use of PAMNet as a UAM traffic management platform.
About PABLO AIR
PABLO AIR first entered the Korean unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market in 2018 with its swarm flight technology and has since developed a wide array of integrated drone solutions—including UAV control systems, aircrafts, and drone delivery platforms & services—and has participated in numerous ICT drone shows. PABLO AIR continues to engage in R&D and commercialization efforts at home and abroad as a pioneer of the global UAV industry.
In 2021, PABLO AIR established a branch in the U.S., bolstering the global UAV market’s recognition of the company’s technological prowess. PABLO AIR is the first Korean company to ever participate in a U.S. drone delivery PoC and is a 2nd place winner of the world-renowned AUVSI XCELLENCE AWARD and a technological partner of the National Technology & Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) in Malaysia.
For more information, visit pabloair.com
About the Born2Global Centre
The Born2Global Centre, operated by Born2Global, is a full-cycle service platform that supports the global expansion of promising companies. Established in 2013 under the Ministry of Science and ICT, Born2Global has been setting the standards for a successful startup ecosystem in Korea and continues to expand and transform startups so that they are engaged, well equipped, and connected with the global market.
For more information, visit born2global.com
