A South Korean telecoms giant wants to launch flying taxis in 2025 and expects it to be big business

BARCELONA, Spain — South Korean telecommunications elephantine SK Telecom is readying to motorboat a flying taxi work successful 2025 and expects it to make "significant" gross going forward, a elder enforcement told CNBC.

Last year, SK Telecom and U.S. steadfast Joby Aviation inked a tie-up to make aerial taxis for the South Korean market. Joby Aviation is simply a shaper of alleged electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles. These electrical flying vehicles are a seen by advocates arsenic a mode to transport radical astir dense cities and debar traffic.

The South Korean authorities is pushing guardant with trying to commercialize aerial taxis by 2025.

SK Telecom and Joby Aviation are looking to instrumentality vantage of the authorities backing. Ha Min-yong, main improvement serviceman of SK Telecom, told CNBC successful an interrogation Sunday that the company's aerial taxi work volition beryllium made disposable commercially "sometime successful the mediate of 2025," earlier expanding to different areas similar logistics.

"So by 2025, if we are capable to beryllium that the work prime is acceptable to the wide nationalist with the information and besides security, past they [the government] volition let the relation to grow the country of the service, including logistics and tourism arsenic good arsenic medical-related services," Ha told CNBC astatine the Mobile World Congress lawsuit successful Barcelona, Spain.

SK Telecom is looking to grow its concern beyond being a accepted mobile bearer and has its sights acceptable connected caller areas specified arsenic artificial quality and flying taxis. These craft volition necessitate connecting to next-generation 5G networks to run and fly, yet autonomously. That's wherever SK Telecom's country of expertise comes in.

While this signifier of transport is astatine an aboriginal stage, consultancy Roland Berger forecasts that determination volition beryllium astir 160,000 unpiloted electrical drones successful usage worldwide by 2050. They volition make an yearly gross of astir $90 billion, the institution says.

SK Telecom wants a portion of the pastry and Ha said that if each goes well, aerial taxis could beryllium a large gross operator for the company, "but not immediately."

"So for the adjacent astatine slightest 5 [to] 7 years, we request to marque definite that the work that we are going to connection to, you know, nine and assemblage is harmless enough," Ha said.

"Once it's accepted precise good by the assemblage and society, past we judge that it volition make a important magnitude of revenue."