Deal signed to develop urban air mobility plan

Chinese eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and land) vehicle developer Aerofugia has partnered with a subsidiary of Sichuan Airlines Group to develop urban air mobility solutions, aiming to integrate low-altitude travel with commercial aviation, the company said on Tuesday.

Signed in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the agreement between Aerofugia and Sichuan General Aviation Investment Management Co will focus on establishing demonstration air shuttle routes linking airports with downtown areas and scenic destinations.

Guo Liang, CEO and chief scientist of Aerofugia, a subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely Technology Group, said the initiative will position eVTOLs as the "capillaries" of urban air networks, enhancing transportation efficiency in the megacity of Chengdu, which has more than 20 million residents.

"A car trip from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport to the Business and Innovation Center for China-Europe Cooperation takes at least 30 minutes, but an eVTOL could complete the journey in just three minutes," Guo said at the signing ceremony.

Zhou Yong, chairman of Sichuan General Aviation Investment Management, said the partnership will include collaboration in flight testing, infrastructure development and operations, application scenarios and professional training.

Fei Lan, Aerofugia's chief marketing officer, said the deal marks the first collaboration between a Chinese eVTOL vehicle manufacturer and a commercial airline. She called it a key step in validating the commercial viability of eVTOL technology.

Aerofugia's flagship product, the AE200, is a six-seat tilt-rotor eVTOL aircraft that successfully completed full-size, full-weight and full-envelope tilt transition flight tests in June last year, making it China's first — and the world's second — to reach the milestone, she said.

Fei said the aircraft is scheduled to undergo manned flight tests this year, with the company aiming to secure airworthiness certification next year before launching trial commercial operations.

"Once large-scale operations begin, eVTOL vehicle trips are expected to cost two to three times the price of premium ride-hailing services, but reduce travel time by 80 percent," she said.

China's low-altitude economy has grown rapidly in recent years. The sector is expected to reach a market size of 1.5 trillion yuan ($206.5 billion) this year and expand to 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.