Buoyed by gaining its Type Certification from the CAAC last October, followed by the all-important standard Airworthiness Certificate two months later, EHang continues its rapid path of commercial expansion around the globe.
During the last week alone, the UAV company carried out flights on the island of Awaji, a Hyogo Prefecture located in Western Japan, in cooperation with business partners, including the Awaji Municipal Government. The craft was boarded by two inspectors and then flew autonomously climbing to 40 metres at speeds of around 25 kph for four minutes.
Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito, arrived to inspect the UAV, before watching the flight. An enthusiastic Saito told the local media he had high expectations for the potential of eVTOLS and aims to use the EHang craft for tourist flights as well as aiding humanitarian disasters.
With almost certainty, the Chinese UAV company will be present at the six month Osaka Expo in 2025, flying the public to and from the event as well as being employed for local tourism flights.
Back in China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has been peering into its crystal ball and revealed last week a prediction for the country’s “low-altitude economy” (LAE). It is interesting to note that this phrase to describe the future eVTOL as well as drone industries is taking hold.
At a press conference the CAAC revealed the market size of China’s LAE (please see image below). The financial figures are impressive.
Jun Han, Deputy Head of the CAAC explained the regulator is promoting the construction of a low-altitude flight service system and aims to simplify application and approval procedures.
As the image shows, the projected growth goes from 500 billion RMB (approximately USD70 billion) to a mouth-watering 3.5 trillion RMB (approx USD450 billion) within 12 years. And that is just China!
Meanwhile, the public are keen to know the cost of a tourist flight in a EHang UAV and superfan, @PhilipFemo, who has a strong presence on social media, recently discovered some potential financial figures.
According to a Linkedin post from Femo, the City of Zhuhai has announced a scale of subsidies it plans to grant eVTOL operators for launching AAM routes in the city.
An English translation from a local news story states, “The city plans to provide subsidies on ticket sales for eVTOL flights.”
The Subsidy Scales Proposed
- 150 RMB (USD20) per sightseeing flight
- 200 RMB (USD28) per intra-city flight
- 300 RMB (USD42) total per flight
- 400 RMB (USD55) for cross-border passenger flights
- 5M RMB annual limit (USD696,000)
Not surprisingly, this post gained a lot of interest from readers. In response to various questions, Femo replied to the validity of such figures.
Philip Femo
He suggested, “We will see once the first commercial scenic route opens for public. If I had to guess? Average DiDi ride is maybe 20–30 RMB. 3–5x that for a scenic tour? And 60–150 RMB for a scenic tour (+ subsidies). Just speculation and guesses based on what prices I saw in China.”
What is exciting is that fantasy is now becoming a reality and, perhaps, in 12 months from now, China will have a growing number of busy tourist flight attractions, offering an expanding revenue stream for operators.
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