Korean aircraft lessor Solyu has placed a pre-order for 50 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from SkyDrive.
With severe traffic congestion in Korea’s metropolitan area, the government formed the Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Roadmap, expecting that the time and social costs can be reduced by 70%. The government also promotes the plan for a public-private joint demonstration project, the K-UAM Grand Challenge.
Solyu believes it is important to promote the use of electric, zero-emission vehicles in Korea to accelerate the K-UAM goal and agreed on the pre-order of SkyDrive eVTOL.
SkyDrive and Solyu continue to evaluate commercial eVTOL considerations such as vertiports, routes, infrastructure requirements, and ecosystems with the Korean government and other interested stakeholders to launch new mobility solutions in Korea.
Andrew Claerbout, President of Solyu Company, said: “The eVTOL market will bring opportunities for reducing global emissions and increasing traveler convenience. We’re honored to work with SkyDrive and the award-winning SD-05 to develop this global market.”
Tomohiro Fukuzawa, SkyDrive CEO, added: “We are pleased to announce that we received a pre-order in Korea following Vietnam and the U.S. This is the first preorder from a leasing company, and we are very grateful to be able to proceed with the Solyu team with extensive experience in the aircraft leasing industry. We look forward to working with Solyu to open up the Korean market and contribute to achieving the goal of reducing CO2 emissions in the Korean aviation sector.”
