EHang Holdings, a Chinese urban air mobility technology company, completed commercial flight demonstrations of its pilotless passenger-carrying aerial vehicles on Dec 28, 2023.

Demonstrations were conducted on the same day in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and Hefei, Anhui province.

Officials and residents in both cities joined the first group of invited passengers to take a ride on aircraft model EH216-S, which had been recently granted standard airworthiness certificates by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The cities had entered a strategic partnership with EHang in October to establish a leading position in the emerging low-altitude economy industry, the company said in a news release following the demonstrations.

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The Hefei government is to provide various supports with worth of $100 million to Ehang, including the purchase of at least 100 units of the EH216 pilotless aerial vehicles in the future, under the agreement.

A passenger takes a ride on a pilotless aerial vehicle developed by Ehang Holdings, a Chinese urban air mobility technology company, in Hefei, Anhui province, on Dec 28, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

At the Thursday event, Hefei launched a two-year action plan for the economic development of the low-altitude aircraft, with 20 guidelines.

The plan proposes to build a low-altitude economy cluster, a testing and airworthiness certification base and a flight service and management platform, as well as to set up commercial flight routes for such purposes as aerial tourism and logistics.

The Hefei demonstration was conducted in Luogang Central Park, which was repurposed from the former Hefei Luogang International Airport. With an area of 12.7 square kilometers, the park is the world's largest urban central park and hosts natural landscape, theme gardens, playgrounds, concert halls, restaurants, apartments and hotels.

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The park has been designated by the Hefei government as a vertical takeoff and landing site for electric aircraft. The plan is to collaborate with EHang to expand aerial sightseeing flight routes and services to more scenic spots in the city.