South Korea wants to democratize passenger transport by drone by 2025
South Korea hopes to democratize drone taxi transport in the near future in the coming years.
AFP - ANTHONY WALLACE
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The ambition of the city of Seoul was clearly displayed this week with a drone taxi with a pilot on board which rose in the sky of the South Korean capital.
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With our correspondent in Seoul,
Nicolas Rocca
Ten short minutes instead of an hour usually to cross Seoul from west to east.
The South Korean government's promise takes the form of a two-seater drone in white colors with a top speed of 110 km / h which rises for three minutes in the sky of the capital.
At the helm, Martin Hischier, the Swiss pilot of the vehicle of
the German start-up Volocopter
.
“
During take off and landing it looks more like a helicopter, but during the flight it is more like an airplane.
I would say it is a mixture of all the advantages that we already had in aviation
”.
Regulations and infrastructure
The drones presented are of German or Chinese manufacture, the South Korean objective is to create the regulations and the infrastructures favorable to the establishment of the market.
“
Between 2025 and 2029 we are considering passenger transport between airports and certain specific points in the city.
And then the ambition is to set up taxi services strictly speaking by 2035,
”explains Nah Jing-jang, director of the drone section of the Ministry of Transport.
After this date, the goal is to switch to unmanned drone taxis, and gradually reduce costs so that the transport revolution does not look like a less noisy helicopter service reserved for the wealthy.
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Technologies
Transport
South Korea