As EHang continues to ramp up production and deliveries of its pilotless, two-seat EH216-S eVTOL aircraft, the Chinese company has been busy signing infrastructure deals and forging partnerships focused on the development of China’s “low-altitude economy.”

On December 27, EHang announced a partnership with China Communications Information & Technology Group (CCIT) to jointly develop infrastructure for the low-altitude economy. EHang said it would work with CCIT to build 100 vertiports for intercity and intracity transport, plus another 100 tourism terminals for aerial sightseeing tours, over the next three years. 

EHang and CCIT intend to deploy both digital and ground infrastructure for urban air mobility, including vertiports, flight data centers, and dedicated communications networks. On the digital front, the partners plan to produce a comprehensive operating platform “that integrates five key networks: air traffic infrastructure network, aerial route network, communications and navigation network, airspace management network, and low-altitude service network,” EHang said in a company statement. 

CCIT is a subsidiary of the China Communications Construction Group, a state-owned engineering firm focused on transportation infrastructure, including railways, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and maritime shipping ports. The firm has faced international scrutiny in recent years, including U.S. trade sanctions, for its role in China’s militarization of the South China Sea, where it has been constructing artificial islands. 

In partnership with EHang, CCIT said it plans to construct modular flight terminals in urban areas such as city parks and on the rooftops of parking structures, as well as larger multimodal mobility hubs. The partners are also considering establishing a dedicated investment fund, a research institute, and a vocational training academy “for the low-altitude economy industry,” according to EHang. 

“Upon this foundation, we will comprehensively, deeply, and innovatively apply our technologies, products, and operational management systems in various air traffic flight scenarios, empower the construction and sustainable development of the industrial ecosystem, and inject new momentum into the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy,” said EHang chief operating officer Zhao Wang.

Weihai High-Tech Zone Buys 30 EHang Aircraft

On the same day that EHang announced its partnership with CCIT, the manufacturer revealed plans to introduce pilotless eVTOL operations in Weihai City, located in China’s Shandong province. 

According to EHang, the management committee of Weihai City’s Torch High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (also known as the Weihai High-Tech Zone) has placed a fully paid order for 30 EH216-S aircraft that it intends to use for aerial sightseeing tours and commercial air taxi flights. EHang and the Weihai High-Tech Zone aim to launch sightseeing operations at Weihai International Beach, Xiaoshi Island, Torch Eight Streets, and other popular tourist destinations. 

Weihei officials will also help EHang establish a manufacturing base in Shandong, along with an industrial park, “with the goal of promoting the integration of the local low-altitude economy with cultural tourism, and other regional industries, accelerating the development and clustering of the low-altitude economy industry in the Weihai High-Tech Zone,” EHang said in a statement.

Shandong province officials recently unveiled a three-year action plan for the development of a local low-altitude economy that would include 400 takeoff and landing sites and more than 50 intracity routes for unpiloted air taxi operations. EHang is targeting 2027 for the launch of eVTOL air taxi services in Shandong. 

In addition to commercial air taxi routes and aerial sightseeing tours on the two-passenger EH216-S vehicle, EHang is also offering alternate versions of its autonomous aircraft for emergency rescue and logistics operations. It has demonstrated a firefighting model known as the EH216-F, which can reach altitudes up to 600 meters and could be used to combat fires in high-rise buildings, the company said. 

“With the diverse application scenarios in Weihai, we are well-positioned to accelerate commercial operations and market adoption and jointly advance safe, intelligent, and eco-friendly air mobility solutions,” Wang commented. “In the future, the public will be able to purchase tickets for pilotless eVTOL sightseeing, enjoying more affordable prices and a better flight experience than helicopter tours.”

EHang Building Emergency Response Headquarters in Fangshan

On December 26, EHang announced plans to open a national headquarters for its emergency response business segment in Fangshan district, Beijing, at a site dubbed the Beijing Low-Altitude Safety Emergency Industrial Park. Established in partnership with the local district government, the park will also serve as a flight demonstration zone for new technologies and products.

Subsequently, they intend to establish “a comprehensive Emergency Firefighting Industrial Park” within the district to serve as a site for research and development, testing, manufacturing, sales, maintenance, and training for the EH216-F, according to EHang. 

Although EHang obtained a type certificate for the EH216-S from the Civil Aviation Administration of China in October 2023—making it the first certified passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft—the regulator has not issued any air operator certificates. EHang has been permitted to conduct some public flight demonstrations under special licenses in Hefei, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Taiyuan, Zhuhai, and Wencheng.

No foreign regulators have approved the EH216-S, but EHang is planning to certify and operate the aircraft in countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Japan, and the UAE.