Skyports, UI Helicopter, and BETA Technologies Partner to Advance Advanced Air Mobility in South Korea

Skyports, UI Helicopter, and BETA Technologies Partner to Advance Commercial AAM in South Korea

Skyports Infrastructure, UI Helicopter, and BETA Technologies have established a strategic partnership to lay the groundwork for commercial Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) services in South Korea.

MoU Signed in Seoul

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was formally signed on July 15, 2026, at K-UAM Confex 2026 in Seoul. The agreement brings together three core capabilities — aircraft manufacturing, local operational expertise, and vertiport infrastructure development — in support of the South Korean government's target to launch commercial AAM services by 2029.

UI Helicopter to Procure Up to 20 BETA Aircraft

Under the terms of the MoU, UI Helicopter has committed to procuring up to 20 BETA aircraft, spanning both the ALIA CTOL (conventional take-off and landing) and ALIA VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) variants, with initial deliveries scheduled to begin in 2029. UI Helicopter brings nearly four decades of helicopter maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) experience and is actively expanding into the AAM sector through its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) division.

Skyports to Lead Jeju Island Vertiport Network

Skyports Infrastructure will oversee site selection, vertiport planning and development, and the installation of charging infrastructure utilizing BETA's rapid-charging systems. The company has already begun preliminary work with the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province government to develop a vertiport network on Jeju Island — expected to become South Korea's first commercial AAM service network.

BETA Technologies Brings a Flight-Proven ALIA Platform

BETA Technologies contributes its ALIA aircraft family, which has now accumulated more than 160,000 nautical miles of flight testing. The CTOL variant is progressing through the FAA type certification process in the United States, while the VTOL variant continues flight testing. The dual-variant strategy allows operators to support initial commercial services using existing airport infrastructure while the vertiport network is being built out, reducing the barriers to market entry.

Aligned with South Korea's AAM Roadmap

The trilateral collaboration represents a comprehensive effort to establish a complete ecosystem for electric air taxi services, closely aligned with South Korea's national strategy to become a global leader in advanced air mobility and aviation. With vertiport infrastructure, aircraft procurement, and local operational capabilities progressing in parallel, the commercial viability of South Korea's 2029 AAM launch target is gaining credibility.

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