Hyundai opens world's first UAM takeoff, landing area in UK

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group has opened the world's first urban air mobility (UAM) takeoff and landing area in central England.

Supernal LLC, Hyundai's UAM unit based in the US, on April 26 unveiled the vertiport, a designated area where future mobility aircraft can make vertical takeoffs and landings, in Coventry, 136 kilometers northwest of London.

At the vertiport, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, air taxis and drones for logistics will be able to depart and land. Hyundai plans to bring eVTOL aircraft to the market by 2028 and launch air taxi services.

The dome-shaped vertiport is comprised of a passenger lounge, cafe, retail shop, logistics facility, hangar, security check counter and a control room. It measures 1,579 square meters in its entirety.

Supernal, established in Washington, D.C. in 2020, plans to open about 200 UAM vertiports in major cities in developed countries, including South Korea, the US, Germany and Australia, over the next five years.

UAM is a next-generation mobility model that operates in the sky to transport passengers and cargo within urban and suburban areas. After landing on a vertiport, its passengers may transfer to an autonomous vehicle on the ground.

Last week, Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. announced a plan to build South Korea's first vertiport on the site of Millennium Hilton Seoul, taking a step toward its commercialization.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.