S. Korea tests drone taxi flight for first time in Seoul
this may sound like a scene from a sci-fi
flick but flying drone taxis have become reality for the first time here in seoul
a test flight event today demonstrated the technology that could be a common sight
should the government reach its goal of commercializing the technology by
2025. i'm ji young who is there with propellers spinning an electric
powered pilotless drone taxi took off into the sky of absol for the first time for
a seven-minute test flight over the han river the ministry of land infrastructure
and transport and solar metropolitan government jointly hosted an event on
wednesday to present the technology the government is pushing to commercialize
urban air mobility by 2025.
We are holding this demonstration in order for citizens
to actually see the development of uam the ministry said that between now and 2040
the drone taxi and the new transport system will create around 160 000 jobs and have
an economic impact of 20 billion us dollars at the event smaller drones also delivered
letters and presents to the attendees tech companies also had the opportunity
to showcase their latest drone taxi models that could potentially reduce traffic
congestion in urban areas in the near future it'll only take 20 minutes by drone taxi to
travel the 40 kilometers from yoidu western seoul to incheon international airport a
journey that usually takes an hour by car and as the technology develops drone taxis
will become more affordable i think south korea we have a very strong government the motivation
they are very motivated they really like to help the industry korea has a really good component
technologies like batteries and the motors so i think we are quite well posed however
the experts said safety standards such as air certification operation and traffic control need
to be worked out before commercialization omg news