Of Rising Suns and Middle Kingdoms

EHang Holdings Limited, the Guangzhou-based manufacturer of autonomous and manned aerial vehicles, has announced that its EH216 autonomous air-vehicle has successfully completed a series of demonstration flights in four Japanese cities.  The flights took place in Japan’s Kansai, Kyushu, and Shikoku regions, and followed a series 2021 flights in Okayama and Fukushima.

The unmanned EH216 demonstrations—believed to be the firsts of an electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) vehicle in Japan—included flights that demonstrated the vehicle’s suitability for urban air mobility, aerial sightseeing, and cargo-carrying operations. In addition to flight demos, the EH216 was exhibited prominently in urban centers for purpose of raising Japanese public awareness of and interest in unmanned air mobility and its future applications in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Organizers of the upcoming (2025) Expo Osaka—a six-month international exhibition staged to showcase national achievements—plan to use eVTOL vehicles to move attendees about the event. Japanese authorities have established a joint public-private council tasked with reforming Japanese air transportation orthodoxy, and accelerating the development and implementation of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure across Japan’s islands.

At the commencement of the one-thousand-day countdown to Expo Osaka, an EH216 completed a demo flight in Amagasaki City in Hyogo Prefecture. The flight was witnessed by members of the press, local government officials, and members of China’s Consulate in Osaka.

Hiroshi Kirino, Chairman of MASC, said of the demonstration flights: “We are very pleased that we were able to conduct demo flights in the cities of Amagasaki, Fukuyama, Sakaide, and Oita … I feel that we will be able to take a big step forward toward manned flights at the Osaka-Kansai Expo in 2025 … MASC will continue to develop use cases for flying vehicles in logistics, tourism, emergency transportation, and disaster response, and will continue to take on the challenges of airborne business, including takeoff and landing sites, in cooperation with the public and private sectors.”

Hu Huazhi, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of EHang remarked: “We are very pleased to complete the EH216 demo flight tour in four Japanese cities, which has set our footprint in up to six cities across Japan, and laid a solid foundation for our continuous expansion in the Japanese market. With EHang’s first mover advantages and leading expertise in AAV technologies, we expect to have the opportunity to provide EH216 flights for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, and implement EHang’s safe, autonomous, and eco-friendly UAM solutions in Japan in the near future.”

FMI: www.ehang.com