Journal of Korean Society of Transportation ISSN:1229-1366(Print) 2234-4217(Online) 대한교통학회지

Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) plans to be implemented in three phases according to the technology roadmap: the Introduction Phase (starting from 2025), the Growth Phase (2030 and onwards), and the Maturity Phase (after 2035). During the Introduction Phase, a total of 4 vertiports will be established in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province. In the Growth Phase, additional 4 vertiports will be added, and in the Maturity Phase, 12 more will be established, totaling 20 vertiports. The objective of this paper is to develop a K-UAM network for the Seoul metropolitan area across these three phases. The locations for vertiports (including vertihubs) were selected considering the physical constraints such as the UAM aircraft’s turnaround process, FATO, TLOF, potential user demand, and the need to promote balanced development across the metropolitan area. According to the study, the 20 vertiports are distributed as follows: 7 in Seoul, 2 in Incheon, and 11 in Gyeonggi Province. The study assessed the appropriateness of the proposed network. To this end, a survey was conducted with 110 experts in the UAM field, and secondly, the number of routes proposed in the K-UAM technology roadmap was compared. Survey results indicate that, regarding the validity of vertiport (including vertihub) selection and the reasonableness of site selection criteria, the average response on a 5-point Likert scale was above 4. The average Likert scale value for the vertiport locations was above 3.7. Additionally, the number of operational routes in the phased network proposed in this study closely aligns with the results presented in the K-UAM technology roadmap. Based on these findings, the phased network proposed in this study for the Seoul metropolitan area is considered highly appropriate.