City aims to build Greater Seoul air mobility network linking Kintex and Gimpo Airport
Goyang Special City Mayor Min Kyung-sun visited Korea Airports Corporation's headquarters and its urban air mobility center at Gimpo International Airport on Tuesday to discuss cooperation on urban air mobility (UAM) pilot operations and tourism-oriented services.
About 15 people attended, including Mayor Min, city officials from the self-sustaining city development bureau and the future aviation team, Korea Airports Corporation President Kim Won-jun, and the head of the corporation's UAM business unit.
Goyang shared its plans to build a UAM demonstration center and vertiport in the Kintex area, along with its push to designate a pilot operation zone. The two sides also discussed the feasibility of Han River tourism flights using existing demonstration infrastructure and a future route linking Kintex to Gimpo Airport.
Korea Airports Corporation outlined the current status of its UAM business and its plans to build a UAM landing pad within the Gimpo Airport multimodal transit hub, proposing cooperation that draws on its expertise in airport operations, navigation safety and traffic management.
The city is building a UAM demonstration center and vertiport covering 15,085 square meters in Daehwa-dong, Seo-gu, Ilsan, with about 20.19 billion won ($15.3 million) in national government funding. Construction is targeting completion by the end of 2027, after which the facility is planned to serve as a Greater Seoul UAM hub integrating demonstration flights, pilot operations, and research and industry support functions.
The city plans to prioritize tourism-oriented services connecting Kintex and the Han River waterfront, then expand in stages — after thoroughly verifying operational safety and commercial viability — to Gimpo Airport-linked services and broader metropolitan transit routes.
"For UAM to take root as a genuine transportation service, organic cooperation across airport operations, navigation safety and traffic management is essential — not just vertiports and aircraft," Mayor Min said. "We will build a close cooperative framework with Korea Airports Corporation to establish a Greater Seoul future air mobility network connecting the UAM hubs at Kintex and Gimpo Airport."
Following the visit, the city plans to continue working-level consultations with Korea Airports Corporation, progressively identifying concrete cooperation tasks including the designation of a pilot operation zone, tourism-oriented trial flights and Gimpo Airport linkage measures.
pjh@heraldcorp.com
