Eve Air Mobility and low-cost carrier Jeju Air are partnering to explore the technical and commercial requirements for electric air taxi operations on the resort island of Jeju.
Eve and Jeju Air released on 27 November a white paper on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) operations in Jeju, outlining a multi-year plan starting with scenic flights at major tourism sites and progressing to commuter flights connecting Jeju International airport to cruise terminals and regional town centres.
The companies call the white paper – released amid South Korea’s concentrated push to become an early proving ground for electric air taxis – a ”detailed analysis of the needs, opportunities and challenges of safely establishing future eVTOL flights on Jeju island”.
“The government of Korea has demonstrated a clear ambition and commitment to develop urban air mobility as a national priority,” says David Rottblatt, Eve’s vice-president of business development, sales engineering and government affairs. ”As Korea’s foremost tourism destination, there is no shortage of bold ideas and suggestions for how UAM will emerge over the skies of Jeju.”
The proposed eVTOL flights on Jeju would start with sight-seeing tours, including to “natural areas currently not accessible to visitors” such as Hallasan National Park, the companies say. “These flights will open possibilities for high-end leisure sustainable ecotourism with minimal environmental impact.”
Jeju’s large electric vehicle charging network, which supports electric buses, will complement planned vertiport infrastructure for air taxis, according to the paper’s authors. “Unlike high-cost infrastructure projects like railways or expressways, UAM infrastructure like vertiports are able to scale easily as demand grows with regional development.”
The envisioned rollout will be based on “likely major tourism vertiports in Jungman, Seongsan, Marado and Udo”.
The plan’s later stages involve integrating eVTOLs into high-traffic areas such as Jeju International, including developing approach and departure procedures and “shared situational awareness” with commercial airlines. The companies suggest that airline passengers may be able to progress to their final destination using the airport shuttle service without passing through additional security screening.
They also acknowledge major challenges ahead for the AAM sector, which may “only happen if issues are resolved incrementally, taking to account current technological development and social acceptability”.
Majority-owned by Embraer, Eve is building its first prototype ahead of a flight test campaign planned for 2024. It claims a backlog of 2,850 orders for its yet-to-be-certificated vehicle.
The Melbourne, Florida-based Eve is not the only air taxi start-up interested in South Korea, with California companies Joby Aviation and Overair also exploring that potentially significant market for urban air transportation.
Overair recently announced a partnership with Hanwha Systems and the government of Jeju to develop an “AAM ecosystem” that would allow for the operation of eVTOLS for public, medical and tourism purposes.
Jeju Air, which operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737s, wants to lend its ”business know-how and aviation experience” to the safe operation of air taxis, says Taeha Park, the company’s head of UAM business task force. ”Just as Jeju Air popularised air travel in Korea, we intend to do the same for UAM.”
