A South Korean firm is willing to establish flying taxis and hopes to be a big company by 2025

February 28, 2023: -A senior executive said that south Korean telecommunications firm SK Telecom is preparing to establish a flying taxi service in 2025 and anticipates bringing in “huge” revenue in the end.

The previous year, SK Telecom and U.S. company Joby Aviation inked a tie-up to enhance air taxis for the South Korean firm. Joby Aviation is a maker of electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles. Advocates see these electric flying vehicles to transport people around dense cities and avoid traffic.

The South Korean administration is pushing forward to commercialize air taxis by 2025.

SK Telecom and Joby Aviation want to take advantage of the administration’s backing. Ha Min-Yong, chief growth officer of SK Telecom, said in an interview that the firm’s air taxi service will be made accessible commercially “sometime in the year 2025” before expanding to other areas such as logistics.

“So by 2025, if we can prove that the service quality is administering to the general public with safety and security, then they will allow the operator to move forward the area of the service, which include logistics and tourism and medical-related services,” Ha said at the Mobile World Congress occasion in Barcelona, Spain.

SK Telecom looks to extend its business beyond being a traditional portable carrier and has its sights set on recent areas such as artificial intelligence and flying taxis. These aircraft will require connecting to coming-generation 5G networks to operate and fly autonomously. That’s where SK Telecom’s space of expertise comes in.

While this type of transport is at a stage, consultancy Roland Berger predicts that there will be almost 160,000 unpiloted electrical drones worldwide by 2050. The company says it will generate almost $90 billion in annual revenue.

SK Telecom is asking for a piece of the pie, and Ha stated that if all goes all okay, air taxis could be a significant revenue driver for the company, “but not directly.”

“So for the next nearly five-seven years, we need to ensure that the service that we are going to offer to the society and community is safe enough,” Ha said.

“Once it’s accepted very well by the community and society, then we believe it will generate significant revenue,” he added.