China is thought to be be catching up with the US in AI and self-driving cars, but it appears to be inching ahead on a completely new technology — flying cars.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has handed out the country’s first-ever air operator certificates to two homegrown players in the flying taxi game: EHang Holdings and Hefei Hey Airlines. The approvals, announced Saturday via state-run Xinhua, mean these companies can finally take their autonomous passenger drones out of the hangar and into the wild, offering commercial services like urban sightseeing tours.
For EHang, a Nasdaq-listed pioneer in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) space, and Hefei Hey Airlines, this is the regulatory equivalent of a golden ticket. Both companies had already checked off the type certificate, production certificate, and airworthiness certificate for their drones, according to a Citic Securities report. The air operator certificate was the last box to tick before they could start raking in revenue from passengers willing to trade traffic jams for sky lanes. And if Citic’s analysts are right, this is just the opening act. “We reckon that low-altitude tourism will be the beginning of this new business,” the report notes, pointing to EHang’s urban sightseeing plans as a potential catalyst for the industry’s takeoff.
China’s not messing around when it comes to dominating the so-called “low-altitude economy”—a buzzy term encompassing everything from delivery drones to blimps and, of course, flying cars. Beijing has been flexing its regulatory muscles in recent months to fast-track this sector, and Saturday’s approvals are the clearest signal yet that the government sees eVTOLs as more than just sci-fi eye candy. With EHang already a known quantity in the global drone scene (the company’s been demo-ing its tech for years), and Hefei Hey Airlines stepping up as a domestic contender, China’s betting big on turning its airspace into a proving ground for next-gen mobility.
Urban sightseeing might be the low-hanging fruit, but the playbook here could expand to air taxis zipping commuters across megacities or even logistics plays in hard-to-reach areas. EHang’s been vocal about its ambitions, and with its drones now cleared for action, the company’s poised to show the world what a commercial eVTOL operation looks like at scale. Hefei Hey Airlines, meanwhile, adds a second vector to the experiment, potentially sparking a race to define the business model for this nascent industry.
Of course, it’s not all smooth flying. Scaling up means tackling airspace management, public perception (not everyone’s stoked to see drones overhead), and the inevitable safety questions that come with autonomous anything. But China’s got a track record of going all-in on tech bets—think high-speed rail or EVs—and this feels like another chapter in that story. For now, EHang and Hefei Hey Airlines have the runway they need to get off the ground. The rest of us? We’re just watching China take some breathtaking steps in futuristic sectors like AI, self-driving cars, and flying taxis.