Korea Airports Corporation Selected as Demonstration Operator for K-Drone System Project

Archive photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Korea Airports Corporation announced on the 15th that it has been selected as a business operator in the 'K-Drone System Demonstration Support Project' led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the 'Airport and Special Facilities Sector.'

The Korea Airports Corporation consortium will discover safe drone routes considering obstacles and communication radio wave environments during disasters and emergencies (such as wildfires and heavy snowfall) at nationally important facilities in mountainous areas that are difficult to access. It will demonstrate a function that separates flight altitudes between drones to prevent collisions. It will also implement an alarm function that warns nearby drone users of collisions and a function that switches to an alternative communication network in case of communication network failure.

The corporation’s demonstration project in the 'Airport and Special Facilities Sector' is the first drone flight demonstration in mountainous areas in Korea. It aims to establish safety measures for workers at special facilities that are difficult to access during emergencies. It is expected to greatly contribute to improving the performance of domestically produced drone technology, including drone operation beyond visual line of sight where the aircraft is not visible.

Yoon Hyung-jung, President of Korea Airports Corporation, said, “The corporation is challenging itself in various ways for the development of the future drone transportation industry,” adding, “We expect that this demonstration project will enable a technological leap in using drones for disaster response near national facilities that are difficult to access.”

Last year, the corporation was also selected as a business operator in the urban sector of the ‘K-Drone System Demonstration Support Project’ and successfully conducted a demonstration of drone traffic management services at Ulsan Airport and urban airspace.