Urban air mobility (UAM) company EHang announced this week that its EHang 216 autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) has completed its first flight tour of South Korea. The tour included flights in Seoul, Daegu and Jeju Island, with each stop designed to demonstrate a different use case for the vehicle. The Seoul flight focused on autonomous operations over a densely populated area while the flight in Daegu delivered a package containing a fire emergency kit and automated external defibrillator (AED) materials. The flight from Jeju Island was aimed at further demonstrating the 216’s use for sightseeing operations.
“Successful completion of the maiden flight tour may lead to opportunities for future cooperation between EHang and its Korean partners in potential UAM operations,” the company said. “EHang will work with its partners in potential smart city transformations with its leading AAV technologies.”
Prior to the tour, which began on Nov. 11, the EHang 216 AAV was issued a Special Certificate of Airworthiness by the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). The autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft has a range of 35 km (19 NM), maximum speed of 130 km/h (70 knots) and payload of 220 kg (485 pounds). As previously reported by AVweb, EHang completed its first public passenger flights using the 216 in Vienna, Austria, in April 2019.
Thanks for reporting. Everybody is so excited .