South Korea’s advanced aviation company Airbility and CT UAV have just marked a significant milestone in their new partnership model.
Located about 2 hours and 30 minutes by car from Seoul, in Chungcheongnam-do Province, South Korea Boryeong Airport is one of the emerging test sites funded by the Korean government for next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and urban air mobility (UAM). With an initial 450-meter runway, planned to extend to 1,200 meters, it offers a safe and controlled environment, ideal for evaluating the performance and reliability of new aviation technologies. Its proximity to research hubs such as the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) further enhances its strategic role.
On September 18, CT UAV (a member of CT Group, Vietnam) and its partner Airbility (South Korea) successfully carried out a test flight of the AB-U60 UAV prototype at this airport. The trial, attended by leaders from both sides, was aimed at evaluating the advanced tilt-rotor UAV model powered by EDF (Electric Ducted Fan) engines.
This test flight at Boryeong Airport represents a significant milestone in the OEM production plan for 5,000 heavy cargo UAVs to be undertaken by CT UAV, under the agreement signed with Airbility in August 2025 in Seoul, witnessed by General Secretary To Lam and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min Seok.
Test Flight of the AB-U60 Prototype at Boryeong Airport
Airbility is currently one of South Korea’s most prominent next-generation aerospace companies. Founded by leading experts, including: Dr. Taekyu Reu – CEO and co-founder, with over 40 years of experience, he was instrumental in the development of several of the Ministry of National Defense’s fighter aircraft programs, including the KT-1, T-50, and KFX, as well as the nation’s first AESA radar; Dr. Jinmo Lee – co-founder and co-CEO, who previously served as a senior research engineer at Hyundai for a decade and conducted research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States; Dr. Hyunsoon Kim – co-founder and CTO, with 25 years of experience, he successfully led aircraft development projects at ADD (Agency for Defense Development) and Dr. Minyoung Ahn – co-founder and COO, previously an image sensor engineer at LG Electronics, later serving as Project Manager (PM) at LG for a new business unit in Silicon Valley.…
Airbility has received substantial investment from funds such as Samho Green Investment, Base Ventures, Stonebridge Ventures, Mashup Ventures, and 500 Global. The company has also been selected to participate in top startup and deep-tech support programs in South Korea, including Startup NEST, Little Penguin, Ultra-Gap Startup 1000+, and Deep-Tech TIPS.
Alongside Airbility, CT UAV stands as one of the leading enterprises in ASEAN’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sector, offering 16 core product lines that range from passenger transport, logistics, telecommunications, and advertising to agriculture–forestry–fisheries, security and defense, construction, real estate, oil and gas, power transmission, renewable energy, rescue operations, firefighting, environmental protection, and carbon credit–related activities. Thanks to its rapid research and development pace and a robust science–technology ecosystem, CT UAV has built a rare competitive advantage in the market. Both parties designated September 18 as the next milestone in their collaboration.
At noon on September 18, under clear blue skies and bright sunshine in Chungcheongnam-do, the gleaming white four-engine AB-U60 lifted off gracefully – so quietly one had to strain to hear the faint hum of its EDF engines. After a vertical takeoff, the engines shifted forward, propelling the aircraft to 160 km/h as it circled the island before landing smoothly on the runway to thunderous applause from both the Vietnamese and Korean teams.The test flights were conducted in full compliance with aviation industry standards, beginning with the maiden flight of the 1/3 scale AB-U4 model, followed by a second flight of the full AB-U60 prototype with a maximum takeoff weight of 60 kilograms.
CT UAV and Airbility flight teams during the September 18 test flight
Although the test was a success, the AB-U60 will continue to undergo additional flights under varying weather conditions, ensuring sufficient flight hours and meeting all other technical standards prior to mass production. At the same time, both parties will conduct further research into models with weights ranging from 300 to 600 kilograms, in line with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards.
Not only stopping at producing 5,000 heavy cargo UAVs for Airbility under OEM conditions, CT Group has announced that it is actively pursuing a series of new cooperation agreements with major corporations both domestically and internationally. At the same time, the Group is preparing a wide range of product lines for the Indonesian market – a G20 nation that has officially signed a cooperation agreement with CT Group on the development of the low-altitude economy, opening up a sustainable ASEAN++ community cooperation model.
