China’s civil aviation authority has given the green light for urban air mobility firm EHang to begin low-altitude commercial operations of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Many companies around the world working on eVTOL solutions are struggling to get past the testing stages into operation because of stringent regulations and safety rules.
China could end up dominating the market as the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is considered “quite supportive” of the industry.
Earlier last year, China-based AutoFlight obtained type certification from the CAAC for its eVTOL aircraft.
Now the CAAC has allowed EHang to begin low-altitude commercial operations of its EH216-S eVTOL.
This milestone signals the start of paid human-carrying flight. Customers will be able to purchase tickets for low-altitude tourism, urban sightseeing and other flight services at vertiports located in Guangzhou and Hefei.
However, the certifications limit the operations to taking...