Korean Air has successfully completed the Phase 2 of the Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) Grand Challenge, marking Korea’s first verified demonstration of urban air mobility operations in a metropolitan environment.

The Phase 2 flight tests took place over a 12-day period from October 16 to 31 along the Ara Canal test corridor between Seo-gu and Gyeyang-gu in Incheon, covering an airspace of approximately 44.57 square kilometers.

On October 16, Korean Air, together with Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) and KT, was designated as one of Korea’s first UAM traffic management demonstration operators. As the lead organization for both flight operations control and traffic management during the demonstration, Korean Air successfully executed  key missions including:

• Mitigating safety risks associated with low-altitude urban flights
• Coordinating seamless airspace handovers between multiple operators and traffic management systems for multi-route operations 
• Ensuring operational stability during unexpected or abnormal situations through extensive simulations

Building on its decades of experience as a global airline, Korean Air showcased the capabilities of its proprietary UAM operations and traffic management platform, ACROSS (Air Control & Routing Orchestrated Skyway System). The system enables real-time flight path monitoring, optimizes air traffic flow, and provides alternative routing in emergencies, ensuring safe and efficient operations in complex urban airspace.

Korean Air will continue to work closely with government and industry partners to support Korea’s UAM commercialization goals and establish a robust UAM ecosystem. The airline also plans to further enhance and automate its ACROSS system through ongoing government-led research and development initiatives.

The K-UAM Grand Challenge is a national demonstration program designed to verify the safety and establish operational standards for UAM commercialization in Korea. As part of the “K-UAM One Team” consortium, Korean Air collaborates with Incheon International Airport Corporation, KT, Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Engineering & Construction to drive Korea’s next-generation mobility vision.

About Korean Air

Serving the world for more than 55 years, Korean Air is one of the world’s top 20 airlines, carrying more than 23 million passengers in 2024. With its global hub at Incheon International Airport (ICN), the airline serves 116 cities in 39 countries on five continents with a modern fleet of 164 aircraft and over 20,000 professional employees.

Korean Air’s outstanding performance and commitment to the highest level of safety and customer service has widely been recognized. The airline has been granted numerous awards including a 5-star airline rating from Skytrax as well as Airline of the Year from both Air Transport World and Airline Ratings. Korean Air is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, and has grown into one of the largest transpacific airlines through its joint venture with Delta Air Lines.

Featured email credited to Korean Air