KAI aims to earn W20 tril. in annual sales by 2030
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) will raise its annual sales to 20 trillion won by the end of 2030 by expanding more deeply into the private market and securing new growth engines including personal air vehicles (PAV), according to the head of the company, Thursday.
The move comes as the global arms manufacturing and military services market is expected to face growth stagnation, while the private market is expected to grow gradually.
KAI President Kim Jo-won also said the firm will nurture some 1,000 small giants to grow together.
He made the comments during a media conference held in Seoul to announce the firm’s business plans.
“To implement strategies for the development of the aerospace business, it is an urgent task to build a new model in which the government, local governments and industries closely cooperate,” Kim said. “KAI will consistently secure core competencies and enhance competitiveness to lead the development of the nation’s aerospace business.”
In order to keep pace with market changes, the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer said it is seeking to become a “super tier 1” enterprise in aircraft manufacturing and pushing to build civilian aircraft made with home-grown technology.
Kim said once South and North Korea’s economic cooperation is enhanced, and a peace mode is set- tled in Northeast Asia, demand for aircraft will increase rapidly.
“2026 will be the starting line to develop civilian aircraft,” he said.
The firm said it will seek cooperation with overseas partners to make inroads into the market more stably.
The company is also moving to develop the PAV, cited as one of the means of future transportation.
It plans to secure relevant technology and develop a prototype by the end of 2023, and develop commercial products as early as 2024. The firm said companies need to consider a wide range of factors before developing the PAV, as a variety of technologies such as autonomous driving involve the development project, while there is no clear standard now.
Whether to equip a piloting feature with the PAV is another difficult decision to make, it added.
“We are now giving efforts to decide what to do in what order,” a KAI official said.