Hyundai E&C presents a domestically applicable vertiport business model
Advancing its UAM infrastructure business, the company announces an urban air mobility demonstration project plan
Hyundai E&C has unveiled for the first time the concept design of the vertiport (Vertiport), a vertical takeoff and landing facility for urban air mobility infrastructure, and is accelerating efforts to build a UAM (Urban Air Mobility) ecosystem in Korea.
Hyundai E&C participated in the ‘2022 K-UAM Confex,’ held from November 10 to 12 at the Paradise City Hotel in Yeongjong-do, Incheon, as part of the ‘K-UAM One Team’ together with Hyundai Motor Company, Incheon International Airport Corporation, KT, and Korean Air, where it presented its future vision for a Korean-style vertiport aimed at revitalizing the domestic UAM industry.
In November 2021, Hyundai E&C formed the ‘K-UAM One Team Consortium’ with Hyundai Motor Company, Incheon International Airport Corporation, KT, and Korean Air, signing a business cooperation agreement to successfully realize the UAM industry and establish its ecosystem. In addition, ahead of the commercialization of UAM in 2025, the consortium jointly submitted a participation proposal in May for the national demonstration project ‘K-UAM Grand Challenge Phase 1,’ which is aimed at the integrated operation of UAM.
At this event, the K-UAM One Team Consortium announced its participation plan for the Grand Challenge demonstration project, while also unveiling for the first time the concept design of a Korean-style vertiport that takes into account the characteristics of urban locations in Korea.
The vertiport concept design presented by Hyundai E&C was carried out as a joint project with Hyundai Motor Company, and was developed based on collaboration with Gensler—a global airport specialist design firm that designed Incheon International Airport Terminal 2, JFK Airport in the United States, and Changi Airport in Singapore—as well as with Incheon International Airport Corporation, which possesses world-class airport operation expertise.
Taking into account vertiport operational efficiency and location characteristics, Hyundai E&C classified the types of urban vertiports that will emerge in Korea into a total of four categories—△airport-linked type △building-rooftop type △integrated transfer center type △open-space modular type—and presented conceptual design proposals for each type, utilizing existing airport terminal infrastructure, the rooftops of urban buildings, the upper areas of bus terminals, riverside areas, and wide, unobstructed open terrain.
In addition, the K-UAM One Team Consortium set up a joint exhibition hall at this event, introducing the business plans that each company is focusing on by leveraging its own expertise.
The participating companies plan to strengthen their cooperative framework for the demonstration project and carry out the full-scale Grand Challenge, covering the UAM aircraft S-A1 (Hyundai Motor Company), the vertiport concept design (Hyundai E&C), the traffic management communication solution (KT), the UAM business promotion strategy and the vertiport model proposal for Incheon Airport Terminal 2 (Incheon International Airport Corporation), and the flight control and traffic management system (Korean Air).
A Hyundai E&C official said, “Along with aircraft and traffic management, the vertiport is an essential area for building the UAM ecosystem, and this project presents a blueprint for various vertiport business models that can be applied domestically in order to expand the UAM infrastructure business,” adding, “Through close cooperation with specialized institutions equipped with top-tier technological capabilities, we plan to secure vertiport design and construction technology development capabilities and lead the new UAM infrastructure business of the future.”
▲ An image of the Korean-style vertiport concept design announced by the Hyundai E&C consortium.