China moves closer to launching flying taxi services as EHang seeks Beijing's go-ahead

Chinese flying taxi maker EHang has moved a step closer to launching commercial service on the mainland after regulator the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) accepted the firm's application for an air operator certificate.

Based in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, EHang said in a statement on Monday that the CAAC has started to review its application for a licence to provide domestic air-transport service.

"We are ... one step closer to realising our goal of commercially operating unmanned passenger-carrying aerial vehicles, representing the final step for urban air mobility entering the consumer market," EHang founder, chairman and chief executive Hu Huazhi said in the statement.

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Hu said EHang is working closely with the CAAC to establish a new operating system for pilotless aerial vehicles, and that the formal acceptance of the world's first such operator certificate application has significant implications for the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) industry.

Chinese flying taxi maker EHang is now in the final stretch of a lengthy regulatory process to launch its urban air mobility service on the mainland. Photo: Shutterstock alt=Chinese flying taxi maker EHang is now in the final stretch of a lengthy regulatory process to launch its urban air mobility service on the mainland. Photo: Shutterstock>

The CAAC earlier this year granted EHang's EH216-S the country's first production certificate for a passenger-transport eVTOL aircraft. The same pilotless aircraft obtained its type and standard airworthiness certificates - both required for commercial operations - from the CAAC last year.

Nasdaq-listed EHang's successful certification initiatives mark a breakthrough in mainland China's multipronged effort to establish the nation's low-altitude economy, covering a wide range of industries related to manned and unmanned eVTOL aircraft operating below an altitude of 1,000 metres.

While the CAAC's review process may take some time to complete, this latest certification process for EHang reflects the potential of flying taxis in the domestic market amid Beijing's support for the low altitude economy.

Recognised as a strategic emerging industry at the tone-setting central economic work conference in December, the low-altitude economy has seen heavy investment and policy support from Beijing - in similar fashion to the country's electric vehicle sector.

In March, EHang put its EH216-S up for sale at a unit price of 2.39 million yuan (US$332,000) on e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding's primary domestic retail platform Taobao. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

EHang the previous month announced that the EH216-S would be sold at a suggested retail price of US$410,000 outside the mainland from April 1.

The autonomous flight capabilities, fully electric propulsion, comprehensive redundancy safety features, and intelligent command-and-control systems of the EH216-S make it an ideal solution for various urban air mobility applications, including air taxi services, aerial tourism, airport shuttles and cross-island transport, according to EHang.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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