German urban air mobility (UAM) company, Volocopter, has completed the first-ever crewed public test flight with its 2X aircraft in Seoul, South Korea.
During the 5-minute test flight that took place at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, the fully electric two-seater air taxi covered a distance of approximately 3 km (2 miles), reached a maximum altitude of 50 meters and maximum speeds of 45 km/h (28 mph). The test flight was part of South Korea’s Minister for Land, Infrastructure, and Transport’s (MoLIT’s) UAM demonstration event – ‘Open the Urban Sky.’
Seoul is now the second city in Asia where Volocopter has conducted test flights of its air taxi, following the first successful public flight trial over Singapore’s Marina Bay area in 2019.
Volocopter is scheduled to conduct a public test flight at Incheon airport on November 16, during K-UAM Confex 2021, which will be attended by the President of Incheon International Airport Corporation and Mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City.
“With MOLIT’s comprehensive K-UAM roadmap, South Korea is well-positioned to achieve the goal of commercializing UAM by 2025,” said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. “We are extremely honored to conduct the nation’s first crewed public eVTOL test flight today and prove yet again that the future of air taxis is here and now with Volocopter’s aircraft. As the pioneers of the UAM industry, we look forward to working closely with friends and partners from both the government agencies and private sectors to make UAM a reality in South Korea.”
