eVTOL company AutoFlight has announced that it has performed the world’s first inter-city electric air-taxi demonstration flight, between the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
AutoFlight’s five-seater Prosperity eVTOL aircraft flew autonomously the 50km (31-mile) route, across the Pearl River Delta, in just 20 minutes – a journey that would require three hours by car. The demonstration flight took place in an area with approximately 86 million people, and in an airspace that borders multiple international airports, including Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau.
Prosperity was designed by Frank Stephenson, who worked on the Mini and Fiat 500 and designs for Ferrari, McLaren and Maserati, among others, before turning to flying taxis.
The demonstration flight was uncrewed and fully autonomous, with certification for crewed passenger flights anticipated within approximately two years. The aircraft has been designed to deliver an electric-powered, sustainable and affordable performance at significantly lower noise levels than traditional aircraft.
According to the company, this flight marks a “significant milestone in the development and road to certification of this exciting new form of mobility”. The route between Shenzhen and Zhuhai is part of a future air traffic scenario planned by the regional government as it develops its ‘low-altitude economy’ strategy that will see the opening of thousands of vertiports and hundreds of eVTOL air routes across the Greater Bay Area in southern China. Low-altitude application scenarios will include passenger transportation, tourism, logistics and emergency services. In the short term, plans are in development to achieve 300,000 cargo UAV flights in this region per year.
Tian Yu, founder, CEO and co-chairman of AutoFlight, said, “We are thrilled to showcase AutoFlight’s cutting-edge capabilities today in the world’s first cross-sea and inter-city eVTOL demonstration flight. Working closely together with the local authorities and partners here, and in other jurisdictions around the world, we will continue to drive this revolution to bring safe, efficient, sustainable and affordable eVTOL flight options to cities around the world.”
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