Jeju Air teams up with startup Plana to explore urban air mobility

Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s largest budget airline, said on Monday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Plana, a domestic startup that develops hybrid electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically.

The two companies aim to explore business opportunities in advanced aviation mobility, or AAM, a term that refers to urban air travel using new technologies such as drones and electric propulsion.

They also plan to cooperate on industry research projects and training programs related to AAM.

As part of the agreement, Jeju Air and Plana will check aircraft safety, integrated operability, noise measurement, etc. in the research demonstration process of the first stage of the "Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Grand Challenge," a government-backed program that tests the safety and traffic management of urban air vehicles in different scenarios. The program is expected to help commercialize urban air mobility, or UAM, by 2025.

Jeju Air’s chief executive Kim E-bae said the memorandum was an important step to expand its business model beyond conventional air transport.

The airline also intends to form a consortium with Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., one of South Korea’s largest builders, to participate in an integrated demonstration of UAM operations.

Write to Seo-Woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com