Ehang receives green light for commercial VTOL operation in China
Ehang has officially received its Air Operator Certificates for the autonomous EH216-S electric VTOL, which gives the company the green light for paid commercial operations. Specifically, the certificates were awarded to Ehang’s wholly-owned subsidiary Guangdong EHang General Aviation and its joint venture company Hefei HeYi Aviation.
This makes Ehang the world’s first eVTOL company to receive a full set of regulatory certifications, despite competition from around the globe. Ehang now plans to utilise the electric VTOLs for sightseeing tours, which are “expected to accelerate expansion, bringing development opportunities to the industry chain related to it, according to CITIC Securities.” The application for the certificates is wider, as Ehang writes that it is now permitted to offer “low-altitude tourism, urban sightseeing, and diverse commercial human-carrying flight services at related operation sites in Guangzhou and Hefei.” Other applications, such as urban commuting, are to gradually follow later.
The EH216-S is a pilot-less, passenger-carrying vertical take-off and landing craft, which is fully battery-electric and can handle a range of 22 miles at speeds up to 81 mph and a maximum altitude of 3,000 metres. The potential flight time only stands at 21 minutes.
Ehang has also founded a joint venture together with JAC Motors and Guoxian to build electric VTOLs about a week ago. In January, Ehang completed the demonstration flight of the EH216-S with passengers on board. The Chinese manufacturer has also already started testing its VTOL internationally, with tests in Thailand starting last November.
Meanwhile, in Germany, two notable eVTOL companies just went bankrupt, with one taken over by Diamond Aircraft, while Lilium’s situation seems more dire. On the other hand, Joby and Virgin Atlantic also recently announced an eVTOL taxi partnership, with the initial goal of offering short-range airport transfers for airline customers in the UK.
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