Guangdong province-based eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) maker EHang Holdings Ltd announced on Thursday that its flagship pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle EH216-S completed its inaugural demo flight in downtown Shanghai.
It has also officially launched the regular trial operation of the eVTOL sightseeing routes by the Huangpu River at Longhua Airport in Shanghai, in preparation for the following commercial operations in the city.
Guangdong province-based eVTOL maker EHang Holdings Ltd completed the inaugural demo flight of its flagship pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle EH216-S in downtown Shanghai on Thursday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Guangdong province-based eVTOL maker EHang Holdings Ltd completed the inaugural demo flight of its flagship pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle EH216-S in downtown Shanghai on Thursday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Longhua Airport, home to the East China General Aviation Service Center of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), serves as an important base for the high-quality development of Shanghai's low-altitude economy.
The flight is believed to demonstrate EH216-S's usage for urban sightseeing, but also for commercial operations of air taxis in the Yangtze River Delta region.
"As the world's first pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL that has obtained the Type Certificate, Production Certificate and Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the CAAC, EH216-S's successful debut flight in Shanghai has great importance, signifying that large central cities in China are on the verge of entering the era of urban air taxi flight scenarios," said Wang Zhao, EHang's chief operating officer, in a statement.
Guangdong province-based eVTOL maker EHang Holdings Ltd completed the inaugural demo flight of its flagship pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle EH216-S in downtown Shanghai on Thursday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission has unveiled an implementation plan for the high-quality development of the low-altitude industry in three phases.
The city is planning to have at least 400 low-altitude flight routes by the end of 2027 to help achieve its ambition of building a "city of sky" featuring a complete low-altitude industry with its expected core industrial scale exceeding 50 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) by 2027.
Wu Wanzhen contributed to the story.
