EHang’s certified EH216‑S pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicles successfully completed debut commercial flight demonstrations in Guangzhou and Hefei at the end of last year, marking another major step towards normalising flights with EH216‑S for aerial sightseeing.

Taking place at the Jiulong Lake Park in Guangzhou and Luogang Central Park in Hefei in December 2023, the events attracted representatives from local governments, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), various enterprises, media and citizens. Both regions are additional demonstration cities selected for UAM operations in strategic partnership with EHang, for establishing a leading presence in the emerging low-altitude economy industry.

EHang’s certified EH216‑S aircraft obtained the Standard Airworthiness Certificates issued by the CAAC in October 2023. Several government officials and citizens from Guangzhou and Hefei joined the first group of invited passengers to take a ride on the EH216‑S, and experienced a ride above the city landmarks.

Huazhi Hu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of EHang, said: “We are excited that EHang continues trailblazing in the global emerging UAM industry. From the world’s first-of-its-kind pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle system type certificate, our first delivery with standard airworthiness certificate, to today’s debut commercial flight demonstrations with certified EH216‑S aircraft in Guangzhou and Hefei, we are making steady progress towards commercial operations, as planned.

“This rapid advancement has been bolstered by the unwavering support of our partners, regulators and national policies focused on developing China’s low-altitude economy, especially in UAM. We are confident that our concerted efforts will ensure a smooth launch of commercial operations for EH216‑S in these pioneering cities in the near future.”

The Luogang Central Park is designated by the Hefei government as eVTOL aircraft operation site for its Full-Space Unmanned System Integrated Application Demonstration Project. Transformed from the former Hefei Luogang International Airport, the Luogang Central Park is known as the world’s largest urban central park, covering a total area of 12.7 square kilometers.

It hosts natural landscape, theme gardens, playgrounds, concert halls, restaurants, apartments, and hotels, which has attracted 300,000 daily visitors during holidays. Abundant application scenarios and massive demands for aerial sightseeing, tourism and regional shuttle services makes the Luogang Central Park an ideal commercial operation site for EH216‑S pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft.

Following the first eVTOL flight route at Luogang Center Park, the Hefei government plans to collaborate with EHang to expand aerial sightseeing flight routes and services to more scenic spots in Hefei, such as Swan Lake, among others.

Based on the strategic partnership agreement with EHang in October this year, the Hefei Municipal Government intends to facilitate the purchase of at least 100 units of EH216 series pilotless aerial vehicles from EHang, and/or provide financing support, amounting up to a total of US$100 million.

Quan Zhang, Standing Committee Member of Hefei Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of Hefei, said: “The low-altitude economy is an emerging industry as well as a new engine for economic growth. In recent years, Hefei has firmly grasped the national policy guidance, industrial development direction, and technological revolution trend, and has successfully ranked into the first tier in this new sector.

“EHang’s debut commercial flight demonstrations mark a new chapter in the development history of the pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicle and the low-altitude economy. In the next step, we will join hands with key enterprises like EHang to focus on application scenarios, industrial cooperation, and business model innovation, and strive to build Hefei as a low-altitude city of international influence.”

The first EH216‑S passenger-carrying unmanned aerial vehicle system has been successfully delivered to ETON, an intelligent aviation technology subsidiary of Guangzhou Development District Communications Investment Group, and has been deployed at the Jiulong Lake operational site.

More operation sites and flight routes for aerial sightseeing and logistics are under development in Huangpu district as well.

In addition, Guangzhou Development District Communications Investment Group and Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital announced to jointly set up a Guangzhou Development District Low-Altitude Industry Venture Capital Fund, with the target fund size of RMB 10 billion.

The low-altitude economy, emphasised as one of the strategic emerging industries during the annual Central Economic Work Conference recently held in China, has garnered strong support from many local governments.

It has been recognised as a promising domain with strong potential to become a substantial driver of the national economic growth. Notably, Guangzhou and Hefei have been positioned as pivotal gateways for propelling China’s emerging low-altitude economy industry. F

avourable policies with subsidies have been constantly launched to promote the low-altitude economy related enterprises, industrial clusters, infrastructure, R&D, production, applications, operations, services and certifications.

Mr. Jie Chen, Standing Committee Member of Guangzhou Municipal Committee, Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, and Secretary of Huangpu District Committee, added: “As a local brand in Guangzhou and the world’s leading intelligent autonomous aerial vehicle technology company, EHang always adheres to innovation leadership and constantly explores the boundaries of the sky.

“I believe that today’s debut commercial flight demonstration will greatly boost confidence of the entire industry and lead its development onto the fast track.”

The Guangzhou Huangpu district government released the Detailed Rules for Implementation of Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy in Guangzhou Development District (Huangpu District) at today’s event.

The government subsidies are up to RMB 30 million for eligible low-altitude industrial projects. Guangzhou Huangpu district is accelerating the layout of the low-altitude economy industrial clusters with potential values of hundreds of billions in RMB. It is foreseeable that low-altitude economy will play a more important role in the future economic and social development of Guangzhou Huangpu district.

At today’s event, Hefei government launched the Action Plan for Low-Altitude Economic Development of Hefei (2023–2025) with 20 guidelines. It is proposed to build a low-altitude economy cluster, build a testing and airworthiness certification base, build a flight service and management platform, set up commercial flight routes for aerial tourism and logistics.