UK based Skyports Drone Services is marking its intention to continue expanding across the Asia-Pacific region using the strength of its business foundation in the UK and European Union.
After establishing its offices in Japan in October 2022, this time UK group has entered into the South Korean market by forming a joint venture (JV) entity with Korean drone technology company, Marine Drone Tech (MDT).
The joint venture will be known as Skyports Drone Services Korea and will be dedicated to delivering tailored drone solutions that address connectivity, productivity, and safety. Initially, partnership will act as a local delivery unit which includes vertiport specialist Skyports Infrastructure.
Alex Brown, Director of Skyports Drone Services said, “Korea is a market that is well-known for its forward-thinking and innovative technology ecosystem. Our partnership with MDT brings together two market leaders and will see us rapidly scale up drone operations across Korea.”
Focus on ship-to-shore deliveries
The primary focus of JV is to setup its operations into the port cities of Yeosu and Busan, with a focus on maritime ship-to-shore deliveries. Those locations reflect the early focus of Skyports Drone Services Korea to better serve its on-ground partners and customers in both advanced air mobility infrastructure and drone services segments.
As it builds that specialized operation in South Korea, Skyports Drone Services Korea will also provide users with a variety of enterprise UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) operations, including operating aerial delivery networks. The new unit will also act as an antenna for the UK group’s activities in AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) transportation.
In bringing its local drone service experience and deep knowledge of the South Korean market to the partnership, MDT will also benefit from Skyport Drone Service’s international insights and expansion plans in scaling their joint operations.
Expansion into Asian Market
“Expanding on our work in Singapore, our focus will be ship-to-shore operations in the maritime sector. We will be bringing the best of our global offering across delivery and monitoring drone services to Korea, improving transport service levels, reducing costs and ultimately improving lives for communities all around Korea,” added Brown.
“We plan to offer a complete solution for a broad range of challenges in multiple industries in our home market”, said Hwang Eui-Cheol, Chief Executive Officer of Marine Drone Tech.
Skyports Drone Services made its first foray into the ship-to-shore market in 2022. It has successfully conducted trials in Singapore, also operated a successful Proof of Concept (PoC) for cross-island drone deliveries conducted Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
In addition to its involvement in long-distance UAV transport trials to offshore UK destinations, Skyports has also been involved in planning and building infrastructure for regular delivery services from Singapore’s Jurong Port to maritime vessels.
In July 2022, Skyports has also teamed up with airline operator AirAsia in Malaysia to explore the possibility of a flying taxi network in the country. Skyports is using the £21.4m in Series B capital, which the company closed in August, to fuel its growth.
