China’s Guangdong news service http://www.newsgd.com/ reports that EHang, the Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platform company will trial its first air taxi network in Guangzhou having previously experimented with goods delivery in the city.
The company says the urban air mobility (UAM) will lead to ” a low-altitude aviation transportation network that shuttles passengers and goods in a safe, fast, environmentally friendly, cost-efficient and intelligent way.”
According to the news report: “As part of the pilot program, EHang will help the Guangzhou government set up a command-and-control center to ensure that multiple AAVs flying simultaneously in the city can remain in the air in a safe and efficient manner and can swiftly respond to emergencies. EHang also intends to help the city build up the basic infrastructure to support urban air mobility, including by designing safety rules and market entry thresholds. On the passenger front, EHang plans to use the pilot program in Guangzhou to test more flight routes and vertiports based on practical application scenarios before moving into commercial operations.
“Next, EHang plans to work with more partners to expand the operations to cover more areas in Guangzhou and transport a wider variety of high-value low-weight goods, including blood and organs for emergency medical use.”
Hu Huazhi, EHang’s founder, chairman and CEO, was quoted: “We are very excited about exploring the various meaningful ways in which AAVs can solve some of the stressors our congested cities face. We are in conversations with other cities, not just in China, to develop safe, efficient and affordable autonomous air transportation.”
“EHang, as already conducted commercial operations in air cargo transportation over the past two years in and near its home base in Guangzhou, working with leading express delivery company DHL-Sinotrans and retail company Yonghui.”
http://www.newsgd.com/news/2019-08/07/content_188581223.htm